[Editor's note: Dr. Martin points out that a list of citizen's responsibilities are listed separately from the Earth Constitution itself, and points out the difference between legal and ethical concepts.]

The Concept of “Ethical Responsibilities” in Relation to the Earth Constitution

Glen T. Martin

T

here are those who say that the Earth Constitution is lacking a list of responsibilities. They claim that what the world needs is a constitution that makes very clear the responsibilities of the citizens of Earth. They claim that the world needs a document, a constitution, that lists not only the rights of citizens but their responsibilities as well. For this purpose, they proclaim, the Earth Constitution is not adequate.

This sort of flawed thinking both fails to understand the concept of democracy and, furthermore, confuses responsibilities in the ethical sense from responsibilities in the related (but not identical) legal sense. A list of ethical responsibilities would have no place in a genuine Earth Constitution since a constitution is a legal document specifying the mechanisms by which decisions are made and who gets to make them (through elections, appointments, etc.). Obviously anyone elected to any office within the Earth Federation Government has a responsibility to perform that office to the best of their ability, with honesty, integrity, and transparency. The Constitution makes this very clear. Responsibility in this sense is intrinsic to the entire Constitution. This means that the entire document is a document outlining the responsibilities of those who govern.

Indeed, the very concept of democracy, from which the Earth Constitution springs, is a social and ethical conception that already includes both rights and duties. As American philosopher John Dewey puts this: “Democracy signifies, on the one side, that every individual is to share in the duties and rights belonging to the control of social affairs, and, on the other side, that social arrangements are to eliminate those external arrangements of status, birth, wealth, sex, etc., which restrict the opportunity of each individual for full development of himself” (1963: 497). Rights and duties are built into the very concept of democracy and do not need to be listed separately except for educational purposes that unpack for learners the depth of the meaning of the concept of democracy. It is the function of proper education to perform this task.

What of those citizens not under the responsibilities outlined for the governors? A list of exhortations about what people who are not in governmental roles should be doing would destroy the excellent character of the Earth Constitution and turn it into another practically useless set of ideals like the Earth Charter or the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Both these documents give us only ideals and exhortations, not mechanisms for governing the Earth.

How then to we get a list of responsibilities for citizens? The obvious answer that these critics overlook is that citizen responsibilities can and should be legislated as duties under world law. A constitution cannot have a list of these because it is up to the World Parliament to establish laws that articulate the responsibilities of citizens. Are citizens responsible to vote? To participate in politics? To participate at the local, regional, and global levels? To interact with the agencies of government? To learn about the nature of world democracy and their role in the self-government of humanity? A list of moral exhortations for these things should not be part of any constitution worth its salt, but the World Parliament can endeavor to answer these questions through creating good laws (in some countries, for example, voting is a legal requirement for citizens).

The philosophical basis for this distinction comes from philosopher of law Lon Fuller. In his well-known book The Morality of Law, Fuller distinguishes the “morality of duty” from the “morality of aspiration.” The role of lawmakers is to articulate wisely, clearly, publicly, and responsibly, the morality of duty: that is, the basic minimum requirements that each citizen must follow in order to create the “reasoned harmony” that is the function of law among the citizens.

These responsibilities of citizens and lawmakers do not exhaust the whole of morality, for Fuller, for there is also the “morality of aspiration” in which citizens identify the good or goods for their lives and pursue these goods. Part of this morality of aspiration may be making exceptional contributions to the common good through practicing exceptional citizenship and making extraordinary contributions to society. But lawmakers cannot legislate for this and it would be a mistake to attempt to do so. This is the role of education and reasoned dialogue, not the job of a Constitution, nor of lawmakers.

The Earth Constitution provides a constitutional framework for the morality of duty on a planetary scale. It presupposes both the duties of lawmakers and the responsibility of citizens to actively participate in their world democracy. It provides for a law-making capacity in which the duties of citizens may be further detailed and elaborated. The Constitution is entirely complete in this respect.

Hence, the Earth Constitution is not only properly formed as it is, it is the ultimate vehicle for activating responsibilities among the citizens of the Earth Federation. There is no other way to legitimately do this. If moral exhortation is what is wanted, then the world parliament can create an agency whose purpose it is to encourage the citizens of Earth to take responsibility for governing and participating in government. Some of this has in fact already been done by the Provisional World Parliament, including World Legislative Act number 26 (the Education Act) in which school children worldwide will be educated to take responsibility within the Earth Federation government.

Under this law passed for educational institutions worldwide insofar as they receive support from the Earth Federation government, students will study not only the Earth Constitution itself, but the nature of democracy, the responsibilities of world citizenship, and the fundamental world problems that the Constitution aims to address. Hence, the Earth Federation Government will emphasize responsibility at every appropriate occasion. Nevertheless, to repeat: moral exhortation has no place in the Constitution itself.

Responsibilities can and should only be legislated by law if the document is to be a legally binding document. And the mechanisms for legislating responsibilities are very clear in the Earth Constitution. Education of the citizens of the Earth for taking responsibility in the sense of the morality of aspiration will come from the educational function of the World Ombudsmus and other government agencies as well as from educational institutions worldwide under World Legislative Act number 26.

Indeed, the World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA) has not waited for the future implementation of the World Education Act. At its events worldwide, the WCPA passes out a card that details “Ten Principles of a Global Ethics.” The list, that we continue to disseminate widely, and that can be found on my web site, illustrates the futility of trying to formulate a list of specific duties that might be somehow embodied in a legal document like the Earth Constitution. These are the principles of a global ethics as promoted by the WCPA:

1.Dialogue. A World Citizen develops the capacity for dialogue directed toward mutual understanding. A World Citizen has the ability to listen carefully to others, to thoughtfully understand their point of view, and to respectfully dialogue in a process of increasing mutual understanding and learning.

3.Human Rights. World Citizens affirm universal human rights and dignity. All people have dignity because all people participate in the miracle that is human life. We human beings are self-aware beings capable of freedom, creativity, compassion, and justice. We have dignity that must not be violated. World Citizens stand by the rights enumerated by UN Universal Declaration and the Earth Constitution, Articles 12 and 13.

4.Democratic Laws. World Citizens affirm the rule of just, democratic laws based on protection of civil liberties and human rights. They support equality, freedom, and equal due process for everyone before the law.

5.Compassion and Kindness. World Citizens understand that reason and dialogue must be complemented by compassion and kindness. World Citizens are sensitive to the suffering of other people and animals. They act toward others out of kindness and compassion. In Buddhism this is called karuna. In Christianity, it is often called agape.

6.Unity in Diversity. World Citizens understand that the world is a wonderful manifestation of unity in diversity that must be respected and encouraged. We are all one as human beings and as children of the divine, and we are all different from one another in races, cultures, beliefs, nations, and religions. World Citizens affirm this principle of unity in diversity for the entire Earth.

7.Justice-making. World Citizens insist on promoting equal treatment and due process of justice for all persons before the law. If laws are unjust, World Citizens work to change them to protect everyone equally. Where people are being marginalized, hurt, or discriminated against, World Citizens side with the victims.

8.Sustainability. World Citizens are committed to transforming the process of living on the Earth to sustainable, ecologically friendly forms of economics, production, consumption, and patterns of living. World Citizens are committed to making the Earth a decent place for future generations through protecting and restoring our planetary environment.

9.Global Education. World Citizens are committed to promoting global education with respect to all these ten principles. People everywhere should be developing global consciousness and a sense of global responsibility.

10.The Earth Constitution. World Citizens understand that none of these 10 principles can be successful for the Earth without the rule of democratically legislated, enforceable law for everyone under the Constitution for the Federation of Earth: http://www.radford.edu/~gmartin/CEF.pdf

The first thing that will strike the reader of these principles is that they are all open-ended because they are all aspects of the morality of aspiration and would be inappropriate for a morality of duty as required by law-makers and governments. You cannot require people by law to engage in dialogue directed toward mutual understanding, for example, you can only require them to negotiate, engage in diplomacy, or mediate. Dialogue directed toward mutual understanding, however, requires an ethical good will and discernment on the part of the participants that cannot be evaluated by the law. The law can only dictate external behaviors, including external manifestations of responsibility. It cannot dictate the ethical dimension of good will, discernment, love, or compassion that are essential to ethics and genuine responsibility.

Hence, the realm of moral responsibility requires a framework conductive to ethical growth and inner transformation toward a good will to do what is right. That is why in the recent Building the New World Conference at Radford University, the WCPA initiated collaboration with the inter-spirituality movement and the ethical growth movement so widespread today among concerned citizens and leaders like Barbara Marx Hubbard, the Shift Network, and other visionary movements (see www.btnw.org) . Government can help create this framework, indeed, with good educational policies both for children and for all citizens. But to try to place any such stipulations within a constitution would be inappropriate and irresponsible.

This is true of all the principles listed here as components of a global ethics. Yet they are all valid principles that demand our attempt to participate in, and fulfill, these principles. They demand our inner transformation toward ethical awakening and responsibility, which cannot be legislated nor demanded by government. Both WCPA in the present and the Earth Federation Educational System in the future can and will promote these values, but the attempt to make them into law would be both totalitarian, futile, and self-defeating.

Those who claim that the Earth Constitution or the WCPA need to be more articulate about “responsibilities,” rather than just rights, do not know what they are talking about. The critics need to stop pontificating about “responsibility” and begin taking responsibility for the future by working on behalf of the Earth Constitution. At this point in history, there is no clearer responsibility, as the last of these ten principles also clearly asserts.

The threat to the future is so immanent and so great (including climate collapse and the threat of nuclear war) that affirmation of the Earth Constitution becomes more of a moral imperative with each passing day. World federalists of all sorts betray the future of the Earth and coming generations with their refusal to endorse the Earth Constitution and take responsibility here and now to start governing ourselves under that Constitution. Here lies the essence of responsibility: not talking endlessly about it, but taking it upon ourselves in concrete action for democratic world government under the Constitution for the Federation of Earth.

--Article by Dr. Glen T. Martin

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Public Banking Institute News: June 8, 2015

Earth Federation News & Views Editor's note:Below are excerpts from PBI NEWS. These items were sent to the editor of Earth Federation News & Views by the Public Banking Institute. PBI economic philosophy and policy are generally consistent with that of the Earth Federation/Earth Constitution. Indeed, publicly owned, controlled, and regulated banking is a necessity for a prosperous world economy that works for all, not just the 1%. The mayor of Barcelona gets it.

In addition, the TransPacific Partnership scheme President Obama is attempting to fast track through Congress would grant multinational corporations power to overturn economic and environmental policies of governments if they interfered with profits. Such a transfer of authority to the private sector would be prohibited under the Earth Constitution. The TPP is for private interests whereas the Earth Constitution protects and enhances the world public interest. -- EDITOR, Earth Federation News & Views]

"You cannot leave something as important as economic policy and money which has a social function, in the hands of speculation and private interest," says Mayor Ada Coloau, the latest leader to adovate for public banks. "Here, there’s been a democratic deficit and lack of global collective and democratic control over money and the economic system in general." Read and watch the interview here.

According to Dave Dayen, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which President Obama is secretly trying to fast-track, could dismantle state-owned enterprises and public services--which would pose a direct threat to public banking efforts--and threatens "social, cultural, and even public health goals." Read more here.

Above two articles thanks to Public Banking Institute News. To learn more about the work of PBI go to www.publicbankinginstitute.org

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Editor's note: Duncan Graham's "Time for a UN Spring" challenges the power and legitimacy of the undemocratic UN Security Council. The Security Council is an obstacle to a World Parliament. The changes in the UN that Mr. Graham seeks could lead to UN Charter Review and the potential adoption of the Earth Constitution. -- RKApril 6, 2015Time for a UN SpringDuncan Graham (From the December 2014 edition ofMondial -- published in Canada by the World Federalists.)

“The absolute refusal of the P5 to brook even small reforms seems absurd . . . . I do not knowwhen the Council equivalent of an Arab Spring will emerge to sweep away the legitimacy ofthe P5 in the global system.”

-- Kishore Mahbubani, former Ambassador of Singapore to the United Nations, in his 2013 book, “The Great Convergence: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World.”

We are at an unprecedented period in our human history with planetary personalcommunications, a global integrated economy and the evolutionary acceptance in the genomethat we are all one species, though a rich mosaic of cultures and ethnicities, the brotherhoodand sisterhood of humankind, the Nation of Humanity. Our cosmic identity is underlinedwith space exploration and now the incredible landing on a comet.

But we are still in Neanderthal mode in our tribal relations, where the buzzwords“international peace and security” of the UN Security Council are a hollow promise for thehundreds of millions of people who go to bed hungry every night. Deaths by violence,malnutrition and easily preventable diseases are an Auschwitz every ten months. And yetworld military expenditures (according to SIPRI, the Stockholm International Peace ResearchInstitute) for 2013 were $1,747 billion and have been over a trillion dollars for ten years. Thepermanent five members of the UN Security Council, China, France, Russia, UK, USA (i.e.those same parties tasked with “maintaining peace and security”) are responsible for 71% ofworld arms sales.

How much is $1,747 billion? Ten $100 bills are a thin 1 mm slice. A one-metre slab is amillion dollars. A billion dollars is one Km of $100 bills. World military expenditures is1,747 Kms of packed $100 bills … and yet Malala has to plead for money to educate littlegirls and boys.Rescind powers of UN Security Council A creative spark? At the World Federalist Movement - Canada’s AGM in Ottawa 25th Oct2014 a resolution was submitted from the Vancouver Branch. It was introduced in ateleconference call by Vancouver President Vivian Davidson. The resolution proposed thatWorld Federalists encourage members of the UN General Assembly to consider rescindingArt. 24 of the UN Charter and that the Assembly itself assume responsibilities forinternational peace and security, as allowed in Art 18 of the Charter, as a first step in creatinga political fluidity in the UN structure for the evolution of a democratic World Parliament andGovernment. It is now history. The resolution passed.

Under Art. 24 of the UN Charter the members (UN General Assembly) confer on the UNSecurity Council primary responsibility for international peace and security. The resolutionwould have the Assembly rescind these powers.

This would leave responsibility for peace and security in the hands of the General Assembly.According to Art. 18 of the UN Charter, decisions of the General Assembly on importantquestions shall be made by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting. Thesequestions shall include recommendations with respect to the maintenance of internationalpeace and security. 188 UN member nations should not continue to be subservientIt has become a Vancouver project to propose to the remaining 188 members of the UNGAthat they need not, should not continue to be subservient to the entrenched interests of thePermanent Five.

The mindless carnage of World War One gave political energy to create the League ofNations,(“First Parliament of Mankind,” headlined the Globe, now the Globe and Mail), theInternational Court of Justice and in 1929 The Pact of Paris or Kellogg-Briand Pact thatoutlawed war. (“War Outlawed,” headlined The Globe).

World War Two led to the creation of the United Nations with 51 nations in 1945. The majorAllies, China, France, Soviet Union, UK, USA who had spent so much blood and treasureagainst the Axis regimes, were the pioneers, the deliverers of an organization to “savesucceeding generations from the scourge of war.” Russia inherited the permanent seat thathad been assigned to the USSR in 1991.

In 1945 a world led by these quintuplets seemed to many the natural order of things. TheUnited States, with no domestic destruction and lower than the others in per capita deaths,was the new superpower. France and U.K., though devastated by the conflict, still heldpolitical dominion over great swathes of the globe with imperial dominance in Africa andSouth Asia.Insidious control of the UN a source of growing frustrationTo give initial stability to these founding 51 nations of the United Nations a Security Councilwas incorporated in the UN Charter with these five nations having permanent seats and theirconcurring votes required for resolutions to pass – the so-called veto. Insidiously, thePermanent Five’s assent is also required for any changes in the Charter itself. Art 108 onCharter amendments requires 2/3rds members including all the permanent members of theSecurity Council. After 1955 (Art 109) a conference to review the Charter could be held if sodecided by a majority of the General Assembly, but any amendments proposed would alsorequire the concurrent support of the P5.

With these provisions, there have been no significant changes to the Security Council exceptin 1966, when the number of non-permanent members was increased from six to 10. Thesetwo-year transients with a chance to posture on the world stage are elected to the UNSC bythe General Assembly for their contribution to international peace and security. 2014- 2015members are Chad, Chile, Jordan, Lithuania, and Nigeria. 2015 –2016 members are Angola,Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain, and Venezuela.UN Security Council's veto power unacceptableTo have the same five permanent members with veto in 2014, with now 193 UN members, isa stagnating anomaly, an anachronism that requires nothing less than the interring of the UNSecurity Council. The Vancouver, now a WFM-C, resolution could be pulling the plug on alog jam that is imminent in any case. In the July issue of Mondial our Exec. Director FergusWatt notes “the growing frustration among members of the General Assembly with thesecrecy and failures of the Security Council.” He was referring in this case to “electing” anew Secretary-General by the General Assembly, which in effect rubber-stamps a closed-doordecision of the P5.The UN General Assembly has been marginalized, and an osmosis of power and authority(by rescinding Art 24) could provide an energizing political fluidity.

Were this to be adopted, it should also be accepted in some fashion that a decision of theUNGA should represent 2/3rds majority of the world’s people, the brotherhood andsisterhood of humankind, as well as (per UN Chapter, Art 18) 2/3rds of member states.

The World Federalists can provide the goal, the vision; but the how-to, the means that wouldallow the UN to better fulfill its purposes in the event these measures are to be implemented,is the work of a broadly based UN preparatory committee process.

by Roger Kotila, Ph.D. (Article also at RSN - www.readersupportednews.org)

The world’s current governing system allows heads of state and their accomplices to commit world crimes yet never be held accountable. With but few exceptions, such individuals will never face a judge or jury.

They are above the law.

In our geopolitical system, impunity is all but guaranteed despite violations of international law ranging from state sponsored terrorism to crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Will the paranoid geopolitical dynamics voiced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, coupled with a weak global governing system, lead to a nuclear holocaust with Iran its primary victim, and the rest of the Middle East collateral damage?

Should we take seriously Netanyahu’s past threats to attack Iran militarily, particularly if Israel rejects the agreement the United States is now brokering regarding Iran’s nuclear program?

Netanyahu’s March 3, 2015 speech to Congress leaves one with the impression that the U.S. Congress would support, without limit, almost any measure that Israel takes against Iran.

We can safely assume that Netanyahu is not at all concerned that a military attack against Iran might make him a war criminal, nor does he seem aware that Israel’s secret intelligence agency, Mossad, has become a suspect in the 9/11 attack (never mentioned in Establishment media).

The 9/11 aftermath has been war, anarchy, and chaos which could conceivably serve to weaken Israel’s alleged enemies in the Middle East.

World’s judiciary system no match for crimes by heads of state

Netanyahu’s impunity is seen for others. War crime charges have never been brought against former president George W. Bush, Jr. for the invasion of Iraq with its untold death and destruction--all under false pretense. Similarly, President Obama will never face criminal charges over the deaths of innocents in his drone warfare operations.

We see these glaring gaps in international law and order time and time again:Charges of genocide and apartheid (Israel against the Palestinians); crimes against humanity (Israel against Gaza); war crimes (the U.S. invasion of Iraq); torture (CIA); violating human rights (e.g., Saudi Arabia); and the 9/11 cover-up—all remain in limbo with no legal action for true justice in sight.

Lawlessness in the global governing structure is a prime reason why peace and justice persistently eludes the world, and why the Earth Constitution was drafted by the World Constitution & Parliament Association.

Quite simply, the United Nations and the international judicial system lack the tools needed to establish and maintain world law and order, and the Earth Constitution offers a way to overcome this disastrous and fundamental problem.

Precursor to mass murder?

In our lawless world, the danger that mass murder and annihilation will be unleashed must be assessed. Sociologist Abram de Swaan has identified “precursors” that are seen before mass killings take place. In “The Killing Compartments” (2015) de Swaan provides warning signs leading up to the possibility of mass annihilation.

With Netanyahu, some of these precursors can be found in the way he talks about Iran.

Netanyahu makes Iran a “target group” for the Israeli regime, as was quite clear in his speech to the U.S. Congress. He demonizes Iran by claiming that Iran, not Israel, is the dangerous (potential) aggressor. He insists that Iran must be stopped before it is too late.

Netanyahu’s rhetoric fits in with what de Swaan identifies as precursors to a future outbreak of mass killing: a regime’s propaganda…”demonizes the target group.”

“The target group (Iran) is depicted as the (potential) aggressor: the regime’s people (in this case, Israel) are the ones being threatened, and they (Israel) risk becoming the victim of the target group and its foreign patrons (the U.S.? Russia?).”

Another precursor, explains de Swaan, exaggerates the importance of a current situation: “According to the regime, the present moment is a decisive turning point in history. From now on everything will be different, if only the regime’s people seize their chance to act together resolutely.”

Unfortunately, acting “resolutely” for Netanyahu could mean launching a surprise “shock and awe” nuclear attack with the aim of bringing Iran to its knees before it can fight back.

Last but not least, de Swaan’s research reveals that those involved in massacres ordinarily have “full confidence of impunity.” They do not believe they will ever face punishment.

Unlimited sovereignty opens the door to world crimes

The culprit that opens the door to world crimes without fear of punishment is unlimited national sovereignty. “Sovereignty” means no authority greater than itself.Each nation is allowed to deal with its own internal affairs without outside interference. Few nations are willing to prosecute their own leaders for world crimes.

A dilemma for the citizenry occurs when a country’s ruling government becomes corrupt, or turns rogue. Elections are rigged. Legislators are bought and paid for.Courts favor those in power. The media becomes merely a propaganda outlet.

If you are a citizen of such a country, those in power are able to block meaningful remedies from within. Hence the need for a higher level of judicial appeal beyond the national government.

Deeply flawed and weak UN judiciary system

At its core what is wrong is a deeply flawed UN Charter with an almost invisible judicial system. The UN Security Council allows its permanent five veto members special privileges.They can prevent any prosecution of their own leaders, even if they have committed horrendous world crimes.

The International Court of Justice (also known as the World Court), the relatively new International Criminal Court, and the various ad hoc courts are not given enough authority to be able to provide justice when powerful heads of state are the criminals. Sovereignty is used to protect them from prosecution.

In the present geopolitical system then, most heads of state need not fear prosecution, especially those from powerful nations. Occasionally the ICC takes a case when the head of state is from a weaker nation like from Africa. Some heads of state have been tried using ad hoc courts such as created for the Nuremberg trials.

Higher level of justice through the Earth Constitution

The design of the Earth Constitution’s judiciary and enforcement system has provisions not found in the UN Charter that give a nation’s citizenry another level of legal action to deter world crimes, and provide a better opportunity for real justice when crimes occur.

Under the world judiciary of the Earth Constitution, heads of state like Mr. Netanyahu would have to think twice before committing world crimes.

You may have heard of the “Doomsday Clock.” The clock represents the count down down to zero in minutes to nuclear apocalypse…midnight. The project is carried on by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. This is the 22ndtime since 1947 that the hands of the clock have been moved. This year, these nuclear experts moved the minute hand ahead two minutes…not a good sign. The clock has ranged from a low of two minutes to a high of 17 minutes at the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. I’m sure there are a number of factors taken into consideration when these knowledgeable scientists move the minute hand backward or forward, but a major one has to be the refusal of the United States and the other nuclear weapons states to live up to our obligations to begin dismantling our warheads and leading the way toward a world free of nuclear weapons. We had agreed to do so by signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968, providing the nations of the world who do not have the devices would refrain from developing them. Now those countries are beginning to think that maybe they should get their own bomb if the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France not only hold on to those they have, but proceed to improve them.

One small country, The Marshall Islands is taking the nuclear powers to court in the International Court of Justice, because of our inaction. Chances are if the court rules in favor of the small nation, we and the other powers will simply ignore the verdict, but maybe it will cause some embarrassment to Obama, Putin and their fellow travelers. The people of the Marshall Islands know first hand the effects of nuclear explosions…they were a proving ground for our tests back in the ‘50s.

Today, they pay the price with sky-rocketing cancer rates and a radio active environment.

Some of us remember the frightening days of the Cuban Missile crisis when the hand was at one minute to midnight. We came very close to seeing the end of civilization as we know it. Fortunately, the Soviets blinked and all-out war was avoided.

Do we really want to pass along the threat of nuclear warfare, by accident or design, which could destroy life on earth, to our grandchildren and great grandchildren?

Studies conclude that even a small regional nuclear war such as one between India and Pakistan using just 100 Hiroshima size bombs out of the 16,330 weapons in today’s stockpiles would result in up to two billion deaths due to the dramatic climate change and famine that would follow. Experts agree that there would be no possible adequate medical response to such a calamity.

We must all speak out against the Congressional and Administration plans to spend up to a trillion dollars in the next three decades “modernizing” the nuclear arsenal and delivery systems. This is the ultimate waste of taxpayer funds that are badly needed in so many other areas, such as infrastructure, health care, education, etc., etc.

The greatest threatstous today and in the near future are terrorist organizations, failed states, environmental destruction and climate chaos. None of these threats can be dealt with by a “modernized” nuclear arms system.

One hopeful sign I see is in the leadership of Pope Francis. I am not Catholic, but am inspired by his call for building fraternity among the nations. He challenges us to take care of the poor, return to the messages of Jesus, and end war.

As Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire states: “Today, in the 21stCentury, as we the human family face increasing violence, we are challenged to admit that we are on the wrong path, and that we need to find new ways of thinking and doing things from a global perspective.”

The international day for the total elimination of nuclear weapons was established by the United Nations General Assembly in order to increase public awareness about the threat these weapons pose to humanity. So, the small countries of the world get it. I have heard that there is a move to abolish the Security Council, whose five veto-wielding members just happen to be the nuclear powers. Maybe this would be a good idea. The world is ready to outlaw the terrible devices. It’s sad that we are standing in the way.

It is tempting to say that what I do won’t do anything to change the course of world events, but if a critical mass of ordinary citizens demands peace and an end to war, our leaders will have to get the message. Apathy will ensure that we continue down the pathway toward midnight and the end of the good life we have enjoyed.

by columnist Dr. Bob Hanson, Rossmoor News

December 21, 2014

Armageddon or Disarmageddon: We Have A Choice

by Roger Kotila, Ph.D.

As the war on terror deepens in the Middle East, the spreading military chaos raises the question of an Armageddon scenario—the Biblical prophecy of the end of the world.

Professor Michel Chossudovsky’s carefully documented 102 page "Towards A World War III Scenario" offers an ominous warning: "The U.S. has embarked on a military adventure, a 'long war', which threatens the future of humanity."

So is Armageddon inevitable, or do antiwar activists have a peaceful alternative?

The public is largely unaware of the Earth Constitution—what I’ve described as a “gift to humanity” waiting to be discovered, and perhaps our best option to bring about a fundamental change from a geopolitical war system to a global peace system.

Unfortunately for the world, there are millions of Christians who believe that a “final battle”, literally, is on its way. Some, who believe in the Rapture, welcome it.

Provoking conflict

For example, some Christian groups help fund illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory which serves to provoke dangerous eruptions of conflict—another step closer to a “final battle.”

Chossudovsky notes that the Global War on Terrorism is presented to the public as a "clash of civilizations." Islamic extremists are said to seek a global caliphate under Islamic law, whereas the US/NATO/Israel are described as defending themselves and Western values.

Yet the real conflict, Chossudovsky concludes, is not about values and religion, but an "outright war of conquest, guided by strategic and economic objectives." In other words, US domination in the Middle East for military advantage and control of oil and other resources.

Longing for Jesus at any cost

Chossudovsky’s analysis of Middle East hostilities may be generally accurate, but he may underestimate the role of Armageddon enthusiasts. There are millions of Christians who believe that we are now witnessing signs of the Last Days that will culminate in Armageddon.

Indeed, prophecies in both the Old and New Testament warn of a time of suffering, death and destruction of epic proportions--a war between good and evil prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

The belief in End Times coupled with a longing for the return of Jesus Christ, causes some Christians to ignore, or reject outright, the antiwar movement.

If it takes Armageddon before Jesus will return, then so be it—bombs away!

One might dismiss Last Days prophecy as delusional fantasy, except for the very real existence of nuclear weapons, and documented options developed by the Pentagon and NATO to use nukes on the conventional battlefield, and by US/Israel for a surprise attack against Iran.

There are eerie similarities between prophecy and current geopolitical conflicts.

For example, in the Gospel of Luke (Chapter 21):“Then he said to them, Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom…And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven…”

In the Book of Revelation (Chapter 16) St. John’s bizarre vision describes a God that orders his angels to “…pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.”

An angel “…poured his vial upon the sun—and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.” “For they are the spirits of devils…which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty…And he gathered them together into a place called…Armageddon.”

Would Jesus be a peace activist?

Which raises an unusual question:If Jesus returned today, either in spirit or in person, would he become a peace activist?Would he speak out against nuclear war and Armageddon?

Fortunately for humanity, Jesus Christ is known more for his desire for peace than a demand for war.Among Christians he is proudly proclaimed to be the “Prince of Peace”.

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew, Chapter 5) Jesus preached that “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.”

Isaiah 9:6-7 predicts that “a son is born” whose name shall be called “Wonderful,” “Counselor,” “The mighty God,” “The Prince of Peace.”“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end…”

In Isaiah 2:2-4 we read, “And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

A path to safety

World federalists believe that there is a path to safety that can eliminate nuclear weapons, and end war.We must establish a democratic world federation. World union must replace competition for resources and military advantage.

When Texas and California have a conflict, they don’t go to war, they go to Court, or to Congress.Disputes are resolved peacefully.Peaceful solutions are possible because the states are in a federal union government under the U.S. Constitution. In similar fashion, nations must join in a world federal union government under the Earth Constitution.

The public has a right to know that there is a civilized way to govern the world without war or nuclear endangerment. We know what to do. The Earth Constitution took thirty years to draft by visionaries anticipating this moment in history.

By Roger Kotila, Ph.D.

Editor, Earth Federation News & Views

www.earthfederation.info

Editorial: Climate marches may well promote, not prevent, climate collapse

The largest environmental protest march in history took place in New York on September 21, a truly massive event that was intended to send a message to participants in the U.N. Climate Conference scheduled to convene in Paris in mid-November. The march included famous environmentalist spokespersons such as Al Gore, Bill McKibben, Jane Goodall, and Vandana Shiva as well as concerned political leaders such as Senators Bernie Sanders and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

However, all the concern, protest, and the making of speeches in the world will not save the environment if we don’t direct our attention to theroot political causeof the destruction of our planetary environment. Sadly, it is likely that not one speech at the climate march by these leaders even touched on this primary issue. And those who will be meeting in Paris in November (representatives of sovereign nation-states and their corporate backers) will never mention the root cause, and so the likelihood of their being any progress in Paris is close to zero.

The root causes of climate collapse are not ignorance, and they are not lack of good will to protect the climate. We know a great deal about ecosystems, pollution, and how the destruction works. And probably most corporate leaders, politicians, and citizens genuinely care about the environment. Neither are the root causes due to lack of popular support. Everywhere people are trying to recycle, conserve energy, and minimize their ecological footprints, and governments are offering tax incentives for environmentally friendly technology. But none of this is sufficient to prevent climate collapse.

The root causes of environmental destruction are not primarily psychological but structural. It is not so much a question of will and caring but the issue ofthe modern world systemitself. The delegates meeting in Paris to discuss climate change will be representatives of a global capitalism inextricably interwoven with a system of sovereign nation-states, each state promoting its own multi-national corporations and competing with the others for power, influence, position, resources, and markets.

Many of these representatives have long known the disturbing facts of climate collapse. The first U.N. environmental conference took place in Stockholm in 1972. The disturbing facts about climate change were well known to those attending the giant U.N. environmental conference in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Its famous document “Agenda 21” was in many ways right on target in its demand for significant reduction of greenhouse gases by the dawn of the 21st century. The U.N. worldwide environmental conference that followed this, in Johannesburg in 2002, recognized the near total failure of the nations and corporations of the world to meet the Agenda 21 goals. The same recognition was there in the 2009 U.N. environmental conference in Copenhagen. The nations of the world, colonized almost exclusively by global corporate capitalism, have been unable to make any significant progress in preventing or slowing climate collapse.

Why don’t we get the picture? The climate threat is obviously aplanetaryproblem, and 193 sovereign nations can never act as a legal planetary organization to regulate corporations or restrain all the nations simultaneously and equitably. To be a sovereign nation means to recognize no enforceable law above itself. In a competitive system of lawless sovereign nations, there can never be consistent global laws protecting the environment or restraining the greed of corporations.

To prevent climate change we need system change. The present world system makes climate collapse inevitable. In my 2013 book,The Anatomy of a Sustainable World: Our Choice between Climate Change or System Change, the frightening facts about the on-going destruction of our planetary ecosystem are laid out through the words of the climate scientists themselves. The book shows what is necessary for a sustainable world system: a world parliament legislating enforceable environmental laws and economic principles that end the rape of the planet’s forests, oceans, and fossil resources; plus legislative efforts to convert everyone—all 7 billion people, 193 nation-states, and multi-national corporations—to sustainable ways of producing, recycling, and drawing on renewable clean energy sources. This book shows in detail how thissustainability systemhas been carefully designed within theEarth Constitution.

It has to be everyone or it will be no one. The U.N. can be the vehicle for this system-transformation, if its unworkable Charter, premised as it is on the absurdity of lawless sovereign nation-states, is replaced with theConstitution for the Federation of Earth. The Earth will then have a World Parliament, a World Court system with universal jurisdiction, and a civilian World Police that can make sustainability happen, protecting the future of our planet and our children. All the nations will then flourish as democratic units within this Earth Federation. But this conversion based on the simple truth thatit has to be everyone or no onesimply cannot happen under the anarchy of lawless, militarized sovereign states who put environmental concerns way down on the list while they promote their influence, power, struggle over natural resources, and competition for markets.

The Paris Conference this month will be a failure, and all the environmental protests and marches in the world will be a failure, as long as we fail to demand the conversion of the world from a fragmented war and greed system to a coherentSustainability System, under a democratic World Parliament and enforceable world law. This must be the basis of our protests, our speaking out, and our influence as citizens. We must demand system-change, for the present world system isinherentlydestructive of the climate and our future. And the most practical means for true system change will be to replace the present U.N. Charter with theConstitution for the Federation of Earth, transforming our present planetary disorder to a system that is truly democratic, sustainable, and free.

*Glen T. Martin is President of the World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA), President of the Institute on World Problems, and Professor of Philosophy at Radford University in Virginia. Author or editor of 10 books, he is a member of the Board of the Democratic World Federalists and a frequent contributor to progressive on-line journals.

NO-MORES byMary Harris

peace activist, age 97

Some say "Some-mores" are a delicious treat, but I haven’t tried them yet. I present here a truly delectable idea: "No-mores."

Listed below are suggestions for a United World Government to assimilate into its administrative, judicial, and social system. I assume of course that an eventual world government, probably or hopefully federal and democratic, will make “No-mores” an important part of the global good government system.

he World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA) was founded in 1958 by Philip Isely and others in order to establish a world of peace, justice, and freedom for all people on Earth. These early founders of WCPA understood that World War II was a war amongst imperial nations for hegemony and control of Europe and the world. They wrote the Constitution for the Federation of Earth in order to end the system of militarized imperial nation-states and create a decent, equitable world system for all peoples.

These founders understood that the modern age of militarized nation-states has always been based on imperialism. In the 16th and 17th centuries it was the Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese who ravaged the world in search of colonies and riches. In the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, it has been the British, French, Germans, Russians, and Americans who have dominated the global in competition for markets, cheap resources, slaves and spheres of colonial or neo-colonial control.

Today, many top scholars have identified the structure of this world system as a whole. It is a system that economically and militarily revolves around a global hegemon, a global center of power that dominates the planet. Such a center of power may be composed of a militarized coalition of dominating nations, such as NATO. Yet since World War II, these scholars have often identified Washington, DC, as the major location for this global imperial center.

The work of World System Scholars further divides the remaining countries of the world into groups of nations called “semi-peripheral” and “peripheral” nations. Peripheral nations make up the majority of nations and people on Earth, mostly in the global south. They are kept in a condition of economic impoverishment, low technology, and relative weakness by the imperial system. Their function is to supply cheap labor and cheap raw materials to the imperial center and its allies.

Semi-peripheral nations share some characteristics with both the imperial center nations and the peripheral nations. They are somewhat more developed in technology, infrastructure, and industry. Semi-peripheral nations may aspire to become part of the center. However, like the peripheral nations they are subject to manipulation, subversion, invasion, or overthrow by the security, economic, and military forces of the imperial center. These nations may also themselves occasionally engage in imperialism, invading, manipulating, or overthrowing their weaker neighbors.

The World Constitution and Parliament association recognizes peoples’ need to resist specific acts or systems of imperialism. However, imperialism is built into the world system. Historically the imperial center has changed, but the world system remains in place. The only practical way to end imperialism and protect the rights and dignity of all nations and all people on Earth is to transform the world system itself. The Constitution for the Federation of Earth, and sessions of the Provisional World Parliament, are the best possible ways to address the scourge of imperialism.

We must establish a non-military, democratic Earth Federation that transforms the economy of Earth into one that serves all people equitably, that ends war and militarism among nations, and that protects the human rights and dignity of all peoples everywhere. It is not enough to be “anti-imperialist.” We can and must demonstrate the alternative. We must all work in solidarity to ratify the Earth Constitution. This is the only way to transform the imperialistic world system into a world based on freedom, peace, and justice. Please join WCPA—and stand in solidarity for a decent world system for everyone on the Earth.

July
27, 2014

Bad
Religion/Good Religion and War: Zionists, Palestine, Gaza, ISIS

Religious extremists frequently hijack a religion and bring
out the worst in it, rather than the best. "Good religion" becomes a victim of
"bad religion". Under the spell of bad religion we see the emergence
of intolerance, hate, fear, and exceptionalism -- a poisonous brew that can lead
to violence and war.

We have seen the tragic effects of "bad religion" in all major
faiths, but the current war in Israel/Palestine/Gaza and
Iraq/Syria highlight the danger when bad religion overcomes good religion, and
there is no global authority capable of limiting the conflict. The current wars
in the Middle East reveal an underbelly of theological ideology feeding the
violence.

The vast majority of all religions practice what may be
defined as "good religion," and pose no threat to the safety and security of our
world. But in times of religious extremism and geopolitical opportunism, the
moderate and morally healthy voices of religion are drowned out by sociopathic
extremists who practice division and exceptionalism.

When extremists hijack religion

History and current geopolitics are full of tragic examples of what happens
when extremists hijack a religion. Hitler used Christianity against the Jews.
Jewish Zionists interpret the Old Testament to justify stealing the land and
homes of the Palestinians. Claiming to be God's "chosen" people, Zionists argue
that the "Promised Land" was meant for them. Violent force has been the
Israeli Zionists' method of choice that is currently being used to bring the
Palestinians in Gaza back into submission.

The forcible heist of Palestinian
lands by Israel is being aided by fundamentalist Christians who long for
Armageddon, and by American Empire seeking more control in the Middle East. (The
American Congress recently voted unanimously to support the right of Israel
to violently destroy an almost defenseless, imprisoned Gaza population. Nothing
was said about Palestinians' rights to freedom and
equality.)

Speeding up the end of the world

Christian fundamentalists help fund illegal Israeli
settlements on Palestinian lands to fulfill Biblical prophecy and to provoke a
final war in the Middle East. They seek to quicken the pace
to an Armageddon (massive death and destruction) telling themselves that then
the promised Rapture will occur, and Christ will return.

The United Nations has been unable to prevent the routine
violations by Israel of international law and UN mandates. The UN lacks an
effective and fair world judiciary and enforcement system. (The Earth
Constitution would correct this fatal flaw in the UN Charter.)

When the Palestinians protest their captivity in Gaza by
building tunnels to the outside and firing rockets against Israel, so much the
better for Armageddon loyalists.

When bad religion is in the driver's seat, the good and decent
people of the world who practice a loving and kindly form of their religion
become victims themselves. This irony is illustrated in an
important attached article by a thoughtful Muslim scholar, Dr. Aslam Abdullah.

It is an important article that challenges the negative
stereotypes of the Muslim faith currently demonized by much of
mainstream American media -- what appears to be a propaganda campaign to insure
that Americans have an "enemy" to fear and loath. Instilling fear is a handy
tool for the military/industrial/national security complex to insure large
budgets (and big profits).

Dr. Abdullah brings out the core goodness from the Quran
-- the loving principles that define the authentic Islamic faith practiced by
the vast majority of all Muslims, yet at the same time he addresses the problem
of extremism such as reported regarding ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).

Authentic Islam rejects extremist violence

Dr. Abdullah challenges those (extremist) Muslims who have called for death
of those who criticize, or show irreverence toward the Prophet Muhammad and
the Islamic faith.

Blaspheme, Abdullah explains, never justifies punishment by death which is
contrary to the teachings and the actual life lived by the Prophet.

ISIS is allegedly insisting upon sharia law, parts of which
violate universal human rights such as punishing females who seek the same
freedoms given men, and threatening punishment by death for blaspheme or other
forms of apostasy. Dr. Abdullah's description of authentic Islamic
values suggests that the ISIS use of sharia law is wrong, and not representative
of true Islam.

Abdullah's article, titled "Is Blaspheme
Punishable by Death in Islam?" helps us to understand bad and good religion,
and is an antidote to western media prejudices that have demonized the Muslim
faith. Below is the link (you may need to copy and paste)*

*Thanks to IslamiCity.com for permission to
publish. Other relevant articles can be found on their website at www.IslamiCity.com.The article was also published 5/7/2011 in
the MuslimObserver.

Path to a peaceful and safe world

The misuse of sacred texts (by Muslims, Jews, Christians,
etc.) is a major obstacle to world union and to a peaceful, prosperous and safe
world. We need more theologians like Dr. Abdullah to speak out when their own
religion is captured by extremists.

We know that the vast majority of all religious faiths consist
of moderates who favor love, kindness, and tolerance of others, and who simply
seek a peaceful, safe, and healthy world for themselves, their families, and
their communities.

The Earth Constitution offers a solution not found in the UN
Charter. It provides for peaceful alternatives to war to resolve conflicts by
means of enforceable world laws and a democratically elected World Parliament.
It insures freedom of religion but also protection for universal human rights.

-- R Kotila, Ph.D.

Editor, Earth Federation News & Views

June 1, 2014

Ukraine, NATO, and more: Time for the UN to look to the Earth Constitution?

The United Nations Charter seeks "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war," but has not been able to live up to its rhetoric.

From the UN's inception in 1945 in San Francisco world federalists warned that the UN's Charter was fatally flawed. Sure enough, geopolitical hotspots and war have erupted with regularity.

The current crisis in the Ukraine is the latest example of UN helplessness. The elected government of the Ukraine was overthrown with covert help from the United States, and then Russia, fearful of encroachment by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, proceeded to annex Crimea.

Politicians and the public are largely unaware that there is a potential solution to these dangerous geopolitical maneuverings that could spark a world war. The Earth Constitution is waiting. It is ready to go.

Scourge of war out of reach for the UN

Ending the "scourge of war" has been out of reach for the UN. Weaker countries are routinely the victims of Bully nations who use covert operations, economic manipulation, and outright military aggression to control or overthrow governments.

The UN's defective Charter allows the leaders of the so-called "great" powers to toss international law aside, indeed to do almost anything at all, with impunity. The UN watched helplessly as the United States illegally invaded first Afghanistan, then Iraq.

For the world community the leaders of bully nations are literally "above the law" as was seen in the brutal "shock and awe" attack on Iraq wherein the US president and the generals responsible for this illegal invasion were never prosecuted for their war crimes, including torture.

The UN has been unable to prevent wars by proxy. For example, it could not prevent the upheaval in Syria supported by Saudi Arabia, the US, and Russia. Saudi Arabia has openly provided the insurgents with money and weapons in its campaign for regime change, ironical in view of the fact that Saudi Arabia itself is a dictatorship.

Israel's brutal attack on the Palestinians in Gaza and its ongoing silent war against them in the form of a blockade have left the Palestinians essentially imprisoned in Gaza. The UN cannot free them.

Israeli leaders have never been prosecuted for committing world crimes, nor have sanctions been applied because the US protects Israel from consequences by using its veto power in the UN Security Council.

UN overshadowed by the US/NATO

The UN has been overshadowed by US/NATO. The results have been disastrous for the countries invaded by this military alliance which ignores international law and makes its own rules, apparently motivated by the goal of world empire, and for "energy security" which one suspects means to satisfy the financial yearnings of private oil corporations.

Targets of US/NATO assaults include Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. The people see their homes and cities destroyed, including the infrastructure so that basics like water and electricity are barely available. Horrendous civil wars have resulted.

Libya was targeted by the US/NATO and the dictator Muammar Khadafy deposed, yet the people are worse off than ever with the country devastated and in a state of anarchy. We see a similar fate for Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and soon, possibly the Ukraine.

In the Ukraine the UN is unable to prevent the internal interference by the United States that helped cause the violent overthrow by neo-fascists of its elected government. To complicate matters, US/NATO seeks a door into the Ukraine, a move that has caused apprehension for Russia since the Ukraine lies on its border.

Is US/NATO a threat to world peace?

The UN has been unable to restrain US/NATO expansion. The facts about NATO as revealed by Mahdi Nazemroaya in "The Globalization of NATO" are alarming.The US/NATO military alliance, he reports, is carrying out plans to militarily encircle both Russia and China.

NATO's interest in the Ukraine along with the announcement by the US of its "pivot to Asia" confirms Nazemroaya's analysis. Fear of encirclement caused Russia to annex Crimea, and spurred China to begin to increase its own military might.

US/NATO actions appear so irresponsible and reckless that it is even conceivable that an attempt at regime change may be in the making to oust Russian President Vladimir Putin who is currently being demonized by the western press.

One can reasonably conclude that NATO, basically a military alliance led by the US, threatens world peace because of its actions to expand worldwide, yet claims it only seeks "security." But isn't that why we have the United Nations?

The UN must turn to the Earth Constitution

It is easy to illustrate the UN's failures. We are living them everyday through the news, -- always a new geopolitical conflict or outrage of one kind or another. Nations operate in a global war system.

The Earth Constitution provides a global peace system. Disputes between nations are resolved without war (which is outlawed). Conflicts are resolved peacefully through adjudication in specialized world courts, or by a democratically elected World Parliament -- lacking in the UN structure.

A core problem is that the UN cannot override the decisions of the undemocratic UN Security Council with its five permanent veto members who use the veto to protect themselves and their allies no matter what wrong they have committed. The United States, Russia and China have most often abused this veto power.

The public knows little about the UN's real problems which go back to its unsatisfactory Charter. They know even less about the Earth Constitution, drafted by the World Constitution and Parliament Association in order to have a constructive alternative to the UN, one that has the potential to actually end war and the lawless anarchy which so undermines a civilized society.

Professor Glen T. Martin, author of "World Revolution Through World Law," has described the Earth Constitution as the "most important document" of the 20th and 21st centuries. It is designed to accomplish what the UN has been unable to do.

The Earth Constitution offers a solution to the nightmare of war and nuclear weapons. Its design is for nonmilitary government both at the global and national levels, of critical importance because military power can never bring true security or peace, a lesson not understood by the US/NATO.

The only realistic goal for a safe and secure world must be world union. We must federate. The nations must form a world federation that truly represents the global community. There must be enforceable world law in league with a democratically elected world parliament. There is no shortcut.

It is time for the UN and the peoples of the world to look to the Earth Constitution.

The new F-35 joint strike fighter aircraft is symbolic of what's fatally wrong with the Pentagon's long-standing war policy of mutual assured destruction (MAD). It may one day carry nuclear missiles. With 18.6 million lines of software code required for the F-35 to "function at its operational specifications" (Boardman, RSN, 9-22-13), one can only sigh in disbelief.

It is just another reason why it is time to end a nuclear military policy defended by the dinosaurs at the Pentagon and richly funded by Congress. A totally new nonmilitary security doctrine is desperately needed. It has appeared in the form of the Earth Constitution, and that is why I became a world federalist.

Increasingly technical, what could possibly go wrong?

As the world gets increasingly technical, the chances for something to go terribly wrong are virtually inevitable, a conclusion clearly explained in Eric Schlosser's "Command and Control," an in-depth investigation of nuclear weapons (Penguin Press, 2013). Technical failure or human error is inescapable.

Defense pundits have defended MAD because, so far, nuclear war has been avoided. Unfortunately, the theory is based upon the rational notion that no one would attack the United States because we could totally destroy them in retaliation. It makes perfect sense, and it works...except when it doesn't.

It is tempting to believe that MAD isn't mad. Unfortunately, psychologically, the policy gives a false sense of security. MAD requires excessive nuclear weaponry which in turn increases the overall risk that, sooner or later, something will go horribly wrong.

MAD versus the 'David' factor

MAD fails to take into account a determined foe -- best illustrated in the Biblical legend of David and Goliath. Despite the fact that Goliath was an overwhelmingly powerful foe, it did not deter David.

At the operational level MAD consists of the "nuclear triad" -- nuclear warheads that can be delivered from the air, under the sea, or from land. But what about the 'David' factor?

The Defense Department, some years after Hiroshima, developed "man portable" atomic bombs. Adam Rawnsley and David Brown ("The Littlest Boy", Foreign Policy, Jan./Feb. 2014) describe the original miniature nuke -- the B-54 Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM). It weighed 58 pounds and could be carried on the back of a soldier.

These miniaturized atomic bombs gave way to Edward Teller's thermonuclear hydrogen bombs -- vastly more powerful than the original atomic bomb, yet some as small as 3 feet in length -- small enough to fit in a large suitcase.

The possibility of "suitcase" nukes coupled with the 'David' factor render the Pentagon's doctrine of massive retaliation hopelessly useless, and irresponsibly dangerous to the world. Such miniaturized nukes in the hands of state directed terrorists (false flag operations), or non-state terrorists, could potentially be secretly placed in major cities.

Such a scenario renders the vastly expensive missile defense systems irrelevant. Moreover, the nation of the vaporized city would not know who to retaliate against, making MAD useless.

First strike and launch on warning further endangers us

Seeking military advantage, or fearing an impending attack by an adversary, first strike has become part of Pentagon and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) policy. Put differently, strategists have adopted the right to launch a surprise nuclear attack.

Additionally, decision time is foolishly short. Many of our missiles are on "hair trigger" alert (i.e., launch on warning).

"In a nuclear crisis, the U.S. secret war plan calls for the president to decide in just 13 minutes what he should do in the event there is a serious warning of a missile attack," reports Pulitzer Prize recipient David Hoffman (Foreign Policy, Feb., 2013). Thirteen minutes to decide to destroy the world? What could possibly go wrong?

What is wrong with this picture?

"Flag officers in unified combatant commands,... are now given authority by the US president to have operational control over nuclear weapons to launch attacks on their own prerogatives." (Nazemroaya, "The Globalization of NATO", 2012)

Former nuclear commanders talk of handing over bombs to NATO units from other nations which, in retrospect, "you wouldn't trust with a .22 rifle." (Eric Schlosser, Command and Control, 2013)

"...an Air Force general in charge of nuclear-tipped missiles relieved for drunkenness off duty -- follows a long list of officer wrong-doings over the last year." (San Francisco Chronicle, 10-24-13)

"In just one example, in August, 2007, six nuclear warheads disappeared for two days between North Dakota's Minot and Louisiana's Barksdale Air Force bases." (San Francisco Chronicle, 12-11-11)

"Twice this year alone, Air Force officers entrusted with the launch keys to nuclear-tipped missiles have been caught leaving open a blast door that is intended to help prevent a terrorist or other intruder from entering their underground command post..." (Associated Press, 10-23-13)

A world free of nuclear danger...or, Why I became a world federalist

The world federalist solution provides the means for security without nuclear weapons. By contrast, the United Nations system has been handicapped by its Charter, hence unable to eliminate nuclear weapons, or end war.

Einstein and other high level thinkers concluded many years ago that the world federalist solution is the (only) path to eliminate nuclear weapons. The world does not have to continue to live in the cold shadow of a nuclear nightmare. We know what to do.

Under the protection of a world constitution

A democratic world federal constitution gives nations a nonmilitary means to resolve conflicts. Differences between nations are resolved nonviolently -- by means of courts and enforceable world law, and a democratically elected world parliament.

The Earth Constitution, drafted by world federalists and world citizens worldwide, is now ready for ratification by the peoples of the world, and by the nations.

Peace Strategy Upgrade: Putting "Ending War Itself" on the Table

On January 1, 2014 an "invitation to join a movement" came across my desk from David Swanson, an articulate World Beyond War organizer announcing plans underway to launch a global movement to abolish war itself.

What was missing was clear recognition of the necessity to replace the current dysfunctional geopolitical system with the world federalist solution.

World federalists warned from the very beginning that the United Nations Charter was flawed, and that the UN system would not be able to abolish war.

That is why it seems important that Beyond War organizers look closely at the Earth Constitution -- a carefully designed democratic world federation that creates a new geopolitical system that actually could abolish war.

Swanson writes: "I'm involved in helping to organize a global campaign for the abolition of war. We've begun holding conference calls, setting up committees, discussing plans by list serve, raising funds, and creating a website. We plan to launch the campaign with a big international event on September 21, 2014."

"In the meantime, we're looking for input, advice, and participation from groups and individuals around the globe -- and not just peace groups. We're working to build a broad coalition of every organization that would like to see an end to war. All individuals and organizations, all over the world, are invited to sign a statement in support of ending all war..."

World Beyond War strategy appears to include the use of strong factual, emotional, and moral appeals to emphasize the terrible destructiveness of war, coupled with warnings of the always present danger of unexpected nuclear annihilation.

Activists will also be ..."expanding the global nonviolent peace force of civilian, trained, international, nonviolent peacekeepers and peacemakers who will be available to protect civilians and local peace and human rights workers endangered by conflicts in all parts of the world and to help build peace where there is or has been violent conflict."

If "ending war itself" captures the popular imagination, trained peacemakers determined to end war could conceivably organize and expand into an international "peace army" trained in nonviolent tactics.

Such a (global) peace army would be hard to ignore. It could make its voice heard. It could penetrate the propaganda of the military/industrial/secret operations/Big Money complex that year in and year out stirs up tensions, conflicts, and wars by creating a constant supply of invented, imagined, and real "enemies."

The total abolition of war will require more than powerful arguments, a global peace army, and brilliant nonviolent tactics to counter the military/industrial propaganda that fuels hate and fear.

A new geopolitical system must also be put into place.

Some activists cling to the notion that what is needed instead of a world federation is small government and local control. They are badly mistaken. Decentralized "local control" can never deal with the power of Big Money, Big Military, Big Police, and Big Secret Operations. Small, separate sovereign units simply make it easier for the powerful to divide, manipulate, conquer, and dominate.

There are some on the Left who believe that the real problem is capitalism, and what is needed is not a world federation but a new economic system. To be sure, money is like water, everybody needs it. Deprived of water in the garden of life, you and your family are flowers that will wilt away in the unforgiving grip of poverty.

But even if all nations transformed into democratic socialist economies beneficial and fair to all citizens, without a world federal union they would soon be at each other's throats -- fighting for oil, over water, or you name it.

We must face the fact that we will need a democratic world federation. There is no shortcut.

As World Beyond War organizers review and refine overall strategy, the Earth Constitution could emerge as a key factor, particularly if activists decide that the current geopolitical system must be changed.

The Earth Constitution deserves serious study. Its significance is not unlike the Magna Carta or the U.S. Constitution except now federalist and democratic principles are to be applied to all nations and peoples.

The public is largely unaware that there exists a rational and practical solution to the problem of war. Our lives need not be darkened by the fact that at any moment nuclear annihilation could erupt.

There is a way out. The Earth Constitution could become the beacon for world union, and the foundation for a world that is safe, democratic, prosperous, and fair to all.

World Beyond War serves a vital purpose when it boldly rejects war itself, and demands that war be abolished. Its agenda wisely goes beyond war, to include peace and social justice, the environment, and human rights.

EARTH CONSTITUTION THE MISSING LINK FOR "WORLD BEYOND WAR"?[Ending war is a top priority. The "World Beyond War" strategy has exciting potential for real progress. Read David Swanson's behind-the-scenes appeal to activists, followed by this editor's advocacy to utilize the Earth Constitution as a key tool to unify groups worldwide, and as the foundation to begin building the type of good government structure that will be needed to successfully abolish war.]

I'm involved in helping to organize a global campaign for the abolition of war. We've begun holding conference calls, setting up committees, discussing plans by listserve, raising funds, and creating a website. We plan to launch the campaign with a big international event onSeptember 21, 2014. In the meantime, we're looking for input, advice, and participation from groups and individuals around the globe -- and not just peace groups. We're working to build a broad coalition of every organization that would like to see an end to war. All individuals and organizations, all over the world, are invited to sign a statement in support of ending all war, and to join in the planning of this new movement athttp://WorldBeyondWar.org Here is the statement.I understand that wars and militarism make us less safe rather than protect us, that they kill, injure and traumatize adults, children and infants, severely damage the natural environment, erode civil liberties, and drain our economies, siphoning resources from life-affirming activities. I commit to engage in and support nonviolent efforts to end all war and preparations for war and to create a sustainable and just peace.

To sign this, and to get involved in many different ways,individuals should click hereandorganizations here.

When you sign, nothing more is required, but you can indicate -- if you choose -- how you would like to be involved. You can also send questions, concerns, comments, and ideas todavid@davidswanson.org

Here's a bit more about what we're thinking:

Public opinion is moving against particular wars and the world's spending of $2 trillion every year on war and preparations for war. We plan to announce the launching of a broad movement capable of ending war preparations and transitioning to a peaceful world. We are creating the tools necessary to communicate the facts about war and discard the myths. We are creating ways to assist organizations around the world that are working on partial steps in the direction of a war-free world -- including developing peaceful means of achieving security and resolving conflict -- and to increase widespread understanding of such steps as progress toward war's complete elimination. If unnecessary suffering on an enormous scale is to be avoided, we must abolish war. Some 180 million people died in wars in the 20th century and, while we have not yet repeated a war on the scale of World War II, wars are not going away. Their devastation continues, measured in terms of deaths, injuries, trauma, millions of people having to flee their homes, financial cost, environmental destruction, economic drain, and erosion of civil and political rights. Unless we want to risk catastrophic loss or even extinction, we must abolish war. Every war brings with it both massive destruction and the risk of uncontrolled escalation. We are facing a world of greater weapons proliferation, resource shortages, environmental pressures, and the largest human population the earth has seen. In such a turbulent world, we must abolish sustained and coordinated militarized combat between groups (primarily governments) known as war, because its continuation puts all life on the planet at risk.

If we abolish war, humanity can not only survive and better address the climate crisis and other dangers, but will be able to create a better life for everyone. The reallocation of resources away from war promises a world whose advantages are beyond easy imagination. Some $2 trillion a year, roughly half from the United States and half from the rest of the world, is devoted to war and war preparation. Those funds could transform global efforts to create sustainable energy, agricultural, economic, health, and education systems. Redirection of war funding could save many times the lives that are taken by spending it on war.

While abolition is a larger demand than partial disarmament, which will be a necessary step along the way, if the case for abolition is made convincingly it has the potential to create support for serious and even total disarmament among people who would otherwise favor the maintenance of a large military for defense -- something that we've learned generates pressure for offensive warmaking. The first step in such a campaign must be persuading people of the possibility of, and the urgent need for, abolishing war. Awareness of the effectiveness of nonviolent action, nonviolent movements, and peaceful resolution of conflicts is growing rapidly, creating the increased possibility of persuading people that there are effective alternatives to war to resolve conflicts and achieve security.

The reduction and eventual elimination of war and the re purposing of the military-industrial complex could be of great benefit to sectors of the world economy and of public services to which that investment could be transferred. We are creating a broad coalition encompassing civilian industries and advocates for green energy, education, housing, healthcare, and other fields, including civil liberties, environmental protections, children's rights, and the governments of cities, counties, states, provinces, and nations that have had to make major cuts in social programs for their people. By demonstrating that war is not inevitable and that it is actually possible to eliminate war, this movement will develop the allies needed to make it a reality.

Resistance, including by those profiting financially from wars, will be intense. Such interests are, of course, not invincible. Raytheon's stock was soaring in the summer of 2013 as the White House planned to send missiles into Syria -- missiles that were not sent after dramatic public opposition arose. But ending all war will require defeating the propaganda of war promoters and countering the economic interests of war promoters with alternative economic possibilities. A wide variety of support for "humanitarian" and other particular varieties, or imagined varieties, of war will be countered with persuasive arguments and alternatives. We are creating a resource center that will put the best arguments against various types of war support at everyone's fingertips.

By organizing internationally, we will use progress made in one nation to encourage other nations to match or surpass it without fear. By educating people whose governments make war at a distance about the human costs of war (largely one-sided, civilian, and on a scale not widely understood) we will build a broad-based moral demand for an end to war. By presenting the case that militarism and wars make us all less safe and decrease our quality of life, we will strip war of much of its power. By creating awareness of the economic trade-offs, we will revive support for a peace dividend. By explaining the illegality, immorality, and terrible costs of war and the availability of legal, nonviolent and more effective means of defense and conflict resolution, we will build acceptance for what has only relatively recently been made into a radical proposal and ought to be viewed as a common sense initiative: the abolition of war.

While a global movement is needed, this movement cannot ignore or reverse the reality of where the greatest support for war originates. The United States builds, sells, buys, stockpiles, and uses the most weapons, engages in the most conflicts, stations the most troops in the most countries, and carries out the most deadly and destructive wars. By these and other measures, the U.S. government is the world's leading war-maker, and -- in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. -- the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. Ending U.S. militarism would eliminate the pressure that is driving many other nations to increase their military spending. It would deprive NATO of its leading advocate for and greatest participant in wars. It would cut off the largest supply of weapons to the Middle East and other regions.

But war is not a U.S. or Western problem alone. This movement will focus on wars and militarism around the globe, helping to create examples of effective alternatives to violence and war, and examples of demilitarization as a path to greater, not lesser, security. Short-term goals may include economic conversion commissions, partial disarmament, elimination of offensive but not defensive weapons, base closures, bans on particular weapons or tactics, promotion of diplomacy and international law, expansion of peace teams and human shields, promotion of nonmilitary foreign aid and crisis prevention, placing restrictions on military recruitment and providing potential soldiers with alternatives, drafting legislation to redirect war taxes into peace work, encouraging cultural exchange, discouraging racism, developing less destructive and exploitative lifestyles, the creation of a peace conversion task force to help communities make the transition from war making to meeting human and environmental needs, and expanding the global nonviolent peace force of civilian, trained, international, nonviolent peacekeepers and peacemakers who will be available to protect civilians and local peace and human rights workers endangered by conflicts in all parts of the world and to help build peace where there is or has been violent conflict.

To get involved,individuals should click hereandorganizations here.Flyers.

***** ***** *****

16 January 2014 Earth Federation News & Views

Editor Roger Kotila Reflects Upon the "World Beyond War" Strategy

The missing link to a permanent end to war is the world federalist solution. The Earth Federation Movement, with its Earth Constitution, offers a way to unite "we, the people" worldwide, and provides a brilliant democratic design to establish good government at the global level.

[Editor Kotila writes:] What seems to be missing in the "World Beyond War" plan (worldbeyondwar.org) is the world federalist solution. That was Einstein's conclusion to end war, and that is why I believe the Constitution for the Federation of Earth (aka "Earth Constitution") needs our serious consideration.

We must change the geopolitical system or the weapons of mass destruction will never be eliminated, wars will continue, poverty will remain a disgrace on the human race, and rights will be violated by whatever group of predators and sociopaths run this country, or that country, or this corporation, or that corporation. The environment will continue to be endangered. The United Nations has not been up to the task.

The problem goes beyond economic change

Predatory, monopoly capitalism is part of the problem, but its elimination would not bring peace. Socialist nations, each with independent sovereignty, would soon be at each other's throats, fighting for oil, or water, or you name it.

We need a balance of economic socialism/and regulated capitalism. The mixture of democratic socialism/capitalism seems positive to me, so long as the game of Monopoly is never allowed.

Money is like water, everybody needs it. Deprived of water in the garden of life, you and your family are flowers that wilt away in the unforgiving grip of poverty.

No one should be above the Law

Universal human rights, although not perfect, are pretty good as a universal standard: Women's rights, children's rights, etc. World crimes such as false flag operations, war crimes, torture, and crimes against humanity often go unpunished by those responsible.

But there must be a means to enforce violations of international and world law so that individuals in power who violate rights are held personally accountable (and suffer consequences such as going to jail).

If we had a well-designed geopolitical system like the Earth Constitution, world criminals (I could give you a long list of dictators, president's, covert operatives, generals, tycoons, bankers, and others) would be arrested, given legal due process, and if convicted, placed in prison for their world crimes. The key is individual accountability. No one should be above the Law.

Good government at the global level is possible

Apprehension about the need for a democratic world federal union government is understandable, but I believe that the Earth Constitution provides the answers.

The Constitution's democratic design rules out the danger of a world dictatorship. There is a unique world judiciary system that allows "we, the people" a means to challenge and eliminate crooks in government and in the private sector.

"FEDERAL" is very important as it means that the world government limits itself to those global problems (such as war, nukes, poverty, climate change) that can only be handled at the global level.

Local problems remain solved at the local level. Good government will mean new freedoms for local governments as resources become available that are now wasted on the military and black box operations.

Abolishing war will take more than warnings, networking, and protests

The "World Beyond War" strategy of worldwide protests via networking is helpful, but not strong, or smart, enough. As described to date, it is a consciousness-raising campaign that argues against war on moral, spiritual, and economic grounds. It warns us of potential global catastrophe.

But to succeed we must simultaneously address the fatal flaws in the geopolitical system that have allowed and supported militarization and created what is essentially a global war system where basically "might makes right."

The United Nations as a global governing system has been stymied by its Charter. It cannot do the job.

The ideal in the UN Charter of (unlimited) national sovereignty (for those who reject a world federation) plays right into the hands of the multinational corporations/Big Money/Big Military who so often are the shot-callers at both the national and global levels.

Separate nations make it much easier to dominate, much like the mistaken notion that "local control" can solve world problems. They can't, and they won't.

"Local control" is a good thing and has its place, but could never deal with the power of Big Money, Big Military, Big Police, and Big Secret Operations. These challenges require new thinking -- a new strategic paradigm, and that's why the Earth Federation Movement with its Earth Constitution is on the right track.

The Earth Constitution deserves serious study. Its significance is not unlike the Magna Carta or the U.S. Constitution except now the federalist and democratic principles are to be applied to all nations and peoples.

When Texas and California have a conflict, they don't go to war, they go to Court or they go to Congress. That's democratic federalism, and the Earth Constitution's wisdom and power is the nonviolent, good government structure needed if we are to succeed to permanently abolish war.

World federalists speak of enforceable world law as a nonviolent means to control harmful and dangerous behaviors by leaders of nations or other groups.

The public does not know there is a solution to the problem of war

We must let the public know that there is a rational and practical solution waiting to be acknowledged and applied. We do not have to suffer endless wars, nor do we have to live with the constant background fear of nuclear annihilation. We know what to do. We can end this nightmare.

There is a better way. That's why I like to say "I stand with Einstein." (Read "Einstein on Peace")

October 23, 2013

Has National Security Become a Dangerous Mental Disorder?

By Roger Kotila, Ph.D.

A psychologist views the national security complex using the latest diagnostic manual released by the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5, 2013).

Has national defense, driven by grandiose delusions, greed, paranoia, and deceitfulness gone over the psychiatric edge, creating enemies real and imagined, with the result of endangering the citizenry rather than bringing safety and security?

Although the APA's Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is intended for individuals, there are insights to be gained from applying it to other contexts.

Early signs of mental disorder

The signs of mental disorder surrounding national security are numerous, but few Americans seem aware of it, a condition that the DSM-5 defines as anosognosia. The public fails to see that the Department of Defense appears more accurately to be a Department for War.

At the end of WWII the American military dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was a savage and sadistic blow aimed at civilian populations. The "cute" names given the two horrific bombs, "Little Boy" and "Fat Man", could not take away from the moral calamity that this depraved act represented.

As if the WWII fire bombings of German cities and Tokyo were not bad enough, the generals and the President had chosen to go even further by using the A-bomb. For the Pentagon, this marked the time when there would be no more limits as to the weaponry allowed in the name of national defense --even if that weaponry could destroy the world.

By the 1960's it was obvious that the United States had far more nuclear weapons than would ever be needed, but the real number was so huge as to stagger even the irrational imagination. Foreign Policy (Oct., 2013) reveals that in 1967 the US nuclear arsenal reached 31,255.

The Pentagon's insatiable attraction to weapons that could destroy the world was an early symptom of impaired judgment due to mental disorder. Sociopaths and psychopaths had gained full control of America's national security apparatus.

"Sociopathic" and "psychopathic" are forms of mental disorder in the DSM-5 under the category of "Antisocial Personality Disorder" (APD). It is one part of the diagnostic picture that helps explain how the military/industrial complex, about which President Eisenhower warned us, went wrong.

A type of mental disorder mistaken for normal, but deadly nevertheless

The public's notion of a mental disorder usually does not include the APD sociopath because they often appear to be normal, seemingly no different from you or me. Indeed, they may be quite intelligent and articulate, not unlike a Pentagon general or a member of Congress.

Symptoms may include lacking conscience and remorse, breaking the law, manipulating others, lying, sadism, and greed. Such indicators are seen in the past and current history of many in the national security establishment.

Sociopaths and psychopaths are often found in prison populations, but many never see jail, and some have gained high positions in business, government, the military, and elsewhere. Psychopaths represent the extreme -- mass murder, serial killing, and sadistic acts such as use of napalm, white phosphorous, and torture.

The U.S. military poisoned vast portions of Viet Nam with Agent Orange. In Iraq and Afghanistan the Pentagon routinely used depleted uranium munitions -- causing perpetual radioactive exposure to the civilian population such as the deformed babies now being born in Fallujah, Iraq, and disability and early deaths for American soldiers exposed to it.

Sociopaths often fail to conform to the law. It is well established that the U.S. invades or uses secret operations to overthrow governments it doesn't like, even those with democratically elected leaders.

Other sociopathic signs include enduring patterns of lying (getting the U.S. into wars in Viet Nam and Iraq), greed (an astronomical defense budget), and manipulation (war on terror to justify a military empire). The Dept. of Defense might more aptly be called the Dept. of War.

Torture and false flag operations part of the psychopath’s arsenal

Some behaviors like the CIA’s use of torture and false flag operations have an evil, psychopathic quality. Torture includes a sadistic satisfaction, the torturer seeking a certain type of response from the helpless victims. False flag operations murder our own. Covert operatives do a mass killing of innocent people, but the act is falsely blamed on an alleged “enemy.”

Bamford's Body of Secrets exposes the fact that the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved a plot (Operation Northwoods) to blow up an American passenger plane and blame it on Cuba as a pretext to invade Cuba. The 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident leading to the war in Viet Nam was likely false flag.

Independent investigators have posited that 9/11 was false flag, an inside job used to justify invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and to launch the perpetual war on terror. Despite convincing evidence that the 9/11 Commission Report was rigged to present a false picture, the US government has refused a new, independent investigation.

American "exceptionalism" a grandiose delusional disorder

A delusion, according to the DSM-5, is a false belief that is not amenable to change even in light of contradictory evidence. A grandiose delusion manifests an inflated sense of worth, power, and identity.

Neo conservatives boast that the U.S. is the "lone superpower" and declare that America is "exceptional" -- morally superior to other countries, and better than everyone else.

This "exceptionalism" justifies all sorts of behaviors from overthrowing governments to ignoring international law, to a justification for the Pentagon's plan for Full Spectrum Dominance.

Full Spectrum Dominance is not a peace plan. It is a grandiose military plot to control the world over land, on the seas, in the air, and up in space. With over 800 military installations worldwide and a large assortment of secret operations, the U.S. is widely seen not as "exceptional" or morally superior, but as a dangerous bully who is feared, resented, and often hated.

The Pentagon is locked into the distant future to an ideological paradigm of adversaries, enemies, and advanced weaponry, with no world peace in sight even 25 years from now. Huge sums of money continue to be wasted on nuclear weaponry and their delivery systems.

There are no plans to eliminate nuclear weapons or war. None. Despite all of its resources to keep us safe, there has been no reaching out by the Pentagon to the world federalists, who actually know what to do to end war and to eliminate all weapons of mass destruction.

The Pentagon's job is to make us safe. Is there a single general who knows what the World Federalist Solution is all about and that this was the answer that Einstein said could get us out of nuclear danger, and yield peace?

The notion that we could have a peaceful world is not in the imagination of our national security leaders. Rather then embrace the Earth Constitution as a plan for worldwide peace, the State Department has been obstructive, and the Pentagon has continued to obsess down a dark path seeking security through horrific weaponry and secret operations.

Creating a world of enemies, real and imagined

After WWII the U.S. soon found a new enemy -- the communists. The "Red Scare" was convenient to justify Pentagon ambitions, aided by terrorist attacks in Europe falsely blamed on the communists (Operation Gladio). Gladio was a murderous deception, an example of the national security state going purely psychopathic.

Terror pays big dividends for the business of war, keeping the citizenry frightened and willing to spend any amount of money to feel safe.

Invasions and covert operations to overthrow governments have created enemies worldwide, people who do not want to be ruled by the U.S. and its allies. But by creating enemies the military/industrial complex keeps itself relevant even while the domestic economy crumbles.

The anosognosia-blinded public has yet to see that the Department of Defense is really a Department for War.

The use of "enemies" to manipulate the citizenry has been overplayed, the result of which has been to plunge America into a perpetual abyss of enemies, real and imagined. Because black box operations are secret, many military personnel themselves are kept in the dark.

Plunging into paranoid psychosis: enemies everywhere, they hate us

After communism was defeated, the military/industrial complex needed a new enemy. By immediately blaming militant Muslims for the 9/11 attack, a new enemy was created even before the dust had settled and a legitimate investigation could be conducted.

It was a conspiracy theory offered by the government before the full facts were in, and made official by the 9/11 Commission Report, a report desperately defended by Establishment media despite growing amounts of evidence from independent investigators that the government’s version of events was false.

Nevertheless, the war on terror was underway supported by convenient lies such as the neo con’s who claimed that “They hate us because of our freedoms!”

A psychiatric assessment of the national security complex should not be taken lightly. The identified disorders are some of the most difficult to treat and may seriously impair judgment to such a degree as to become a danger to self or to others.

[Soon in OPINION: The symptoms of a mentally disordered national security state are looked at more closely. Has society been too willing to ignore, deny, or rationalize a system that has become dangerously out of control? Is the well-being and safety of Americans and others worldwide now routinely at risk?

When a patient becomes a danger to self or others, mental health professionals are required to do an intervention that may involve treatment. Should the “national security state” be subject to some type of intervention?]

October 9, 2013

Has National Security Become a Mental Disorder?

A psychologist views the national security complex using the latest diagnostic manual released by the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5, 2013).

Has national defense, driven by grandiose delusions, greed, paranoia, and deceitfulness gone over the psychiatric edge creating enemies real and imagined, with the result of endangering the citizenry rather than bringing safety and security?

Although the APA's Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is intended for individuals, there are insights to be gained from applying it to other contexts.

Early signs of mental disorder

The signs of mental disorder surrounding national security are numerous, but few Americans seem aware of it, a condition that the DSM-5 defines as anosognosia.

At the end of WWII the American military dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was a savage and sadistic blow aimed at civilian populations. The "cute" names given the two deadly bombs, "Little Boy" and "Fat Man", could not take away from the moral calamity this depraved act represented.

As if the WWII fire bombings of German cities were not bad enough, the generals and the President had chosen to go even further by using the A-bomb. For the Pentagon, this marked the time when there would be no more limits as to the weaponry allowed in the name of national defense --even if that weaponry could destroy the world.

By the 1960's it was obvious that the United States had far more nuclear weapons than would ever be needed, but the real number was so huge as to stagger even the irrational imagination. Foreign Policy (Oct., 2013) reveals that in 1967 the US nuclear arsenal reached 31,255.

The Pentagon's insatiable attraction to weapons that could destroy the world was an early symptom of impaired judgement due to mental disorder. Sociopaths and psychopaths had gained full control of America's national security apparatus.

"Sociopathic" and "psychopathic" are forms of mental disorder in the DSM-5 under the category of "Antisocial Personality Disorder" (APD). It is one part of the diagnostic picture that helps explain how the military/industrial complex went wrong, causing increasingly less security both abroad and at home, and ultimately becoming a danger to the country.

A type of mental disorder mistaken for normal, but deadly nevertheless

The public's notion of a mental disorder usually does not include the APD sociopath because they often appear to be normal, seemingly no different than you or me. Indeed, they may be quite intelligent and articulate, not unlike a Pentagon general or a member of Congress.

Sociopaths are often found in prison populations, but many never see jail, and some have gained high positions in business, government, the military, and elsewhere.

Symptoms of this disorder may include include lacking conscience and remorse, breaking the law, manipulating others for personal gain, lying, sadism, and greed. Such indicators are seen in the past and current history of the national security establishment.

The U.S. military poisoned vast portions of Viet Nam with Agent Orange. In Iraq and Afghanistan the Pentagon routinely used depleted uranium munitions -- causing perpetual radioactive exposure to the civilian population such as the deformed babies now being born in Fallujah, Iraq.

Sociopaths often fail to conform to the law. It is well established that the U.S. invades or uses secret operations to overthrow governments it doesn't like, even those with democratically elected leaders.

Other sociopathic signs include enduring patterns of lying (getting the U.S. in wars in Viet Nam and Iraq), greed (an astronomical defense budget), and manipulation (war on terror to justify a military empire).

False flag operations, like the CIA's use of torture, have an evil, psychopathic quality.

Covert operatives do a mass killing of innocent people and the act is falsely blamed on the "enemy." Bamford's "Body of Secrets" exposes the fact that the Joint Chiefs of Staff had approved a plot to blow up an Amerian passenger plane and blame it on Cuba as a pretext to invade Cuba.

Independent investigators have posited that 9/11 was false flag, an inside job used to justify invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and to launch the perpetual war on terror. Despite convincing evidence that the 9/11 Commission Report was rigged to present a false picture, the government has refused a new, independent investigation.

American "exceptionalism" a grandiose delusional disorder

A delusion, according to the DSM-5, is a false belief that is not amenable to change even in light of contradictory evidence. A grandiose delusion manifests an inflated sense of worth, power, and identity.

Neo conservatives boast that the U.S. is the "lone superpower" and declare that America is "exceptional" -- morally superior to other countries, and better than everyone else.

This "exceptionalism" justifies all sorts of behaviors from overthrowing governments to ignoring international law, to a justification for the Pentagon's plan for Full Spectrum Dominance.

Full Spectrum Dominance is not a peace plan. It is a grandiose military plot to control the world over land, on the seas, in the air, and up in space. With over 800 military installations worldwide and a large assortment of secret operations, the U.S. is widely seen not as "exceptional" or morally superior, but as a dangerous bully who is feared, resented, and often hated.

The Pentagon is locked into the distant future to an ideological paradigm of adversaries, enemies, and advanced weaponry, with no world peace in sight even 50 years from now. There are no plans to eliminate nuclear weapons. None. Huge sums of money continue to go toward nuclear weaponry and their delivery systems.

Creating a world of enemies, real and imagined

After WWII the U.S. soon found another enemy -- the communists. The "Red Scare" was convenient to justify Pentagon ambitions, aided by terrorist attacks in Europe falsely blamed on the communists (Operation Gladio). Gladio was a murderous deception, an example of the national security state going purely psychopathic.

Terror pays big dividends for the business of war, keeping the citizenry frightened and willing to spend any amount of money to feel safe.

Invasions and covert operations to overthrow governments have created enemies worldwide, people who do not want to be ruled by the U.S. and its allies. But by creating enemies the military/industrial complex keeps itself relevant even while the domestic economy crumbles.

The use of "enemies" to manipulate the citizenry has been overplayed, the result of which has been to plunge America into a perpetual abyss of enemies, real and imagined. Because black box operations are secret, many military personnel themselves are kept in the dark.

Plunging into paranoid psychosis: enemies everywhere, they hate us

After communism was defeated the military/industrial complex needed a new enemy. By immediately blaming militant Muslims for the 9/11 attack, a new enemy was created even before the full facts had been established

October 9, 2013

Has National Security Become a Mental Disorder?

A psychologist views the national security complex using the latest diagnostic manual released by the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5, 2013).

Has national defense, driven by grandiose delusions, greed, paranoia, and deceitfulness gone over the psychiatric edge creating enemies real and imagined, with the result of endangering the citizenry rather than bringing safety and security?

Although the APA's Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is intended for individuals, there are insights to be gained from applying it to other contexts.

Early signs of mental disorder

The signs of mental disorder surrounding national security are numerous, but few Americans seem aware of it, a condition that the DSM-5 defines as anosognosia.

At the end of WWII the American military dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was a savage and sadistic blow aimed at civilian populations. The "cute" names given the two deadly bombs, "Little Boy" and "Fat Man", could not take away from the moral calamity this depraved act represented.

As if the WWII fire bombings of German cities were not bad enough, the generals and the President had chosen to go even further by using the A-bomb. For the Pentagon, this marked the time when there would be no more limits as to the weaponry allowed in the name of national defense --even if that weaponry could destroy the world.

By the 1960's it was obvious that the United States had far more nuclear weapons than would ever be needed, but the real number was so huge as to stagger even the irrational imagination. Foreign Policy (Oct., 2013) reveals that in 1967 the US nuclear arsenal reached 31,255.

The Pentagon's insatiable attraction to weapons that could destroy the world was an early symptom of impaired judgement due to mental disorder. Sociopaths and psychopaths had gained full control of America's national security apparatus.

"Sociopathic" and "psychopathic" are forms of mental disorder in the DSM-5 under the category of "Antisocial Personality Disorder" (APD). It is one part of the diagnostic picture that helps explain how the military/industrial complex went wrong, causing increasingly less security both abroad and at home, and ultimately becoming a danger to the country.

A type of mental disorder mistaken for normal, but deadly nevertheless

The public's notion of a mental disorder usually does not include the APD sociopath because they often appear to be normal, seemingly no different than you or me. Indeed, they may be quite intelligent and articulate, not unlike a Pentagon general or a member of Congress.

Sociopaths are often found in prison populations, but many never see jail, and some have gained high positions in business, government, the military, and elsewhere.

Symptoms of this disorder may include include lacking conscience and remorse, breaking the law, manipulating others for personal gain, lying, sadism, and greed. Such indicators are seen in the past and current history of the national security establishment.

The U.S. military poisoned vast portions of Viet Nam with Agent Orange. In Iraq and Afghanistan the Pentagon routinely used depleted uranium munitions -- causing perpetual radioactive exposure to the civilian population such as the deformed babies now being born in Fallujah, Iraq.

Sociopaths often fail to conform to the law. It is well established that the U.S. invades or uses secret operations to overthrow governments it doesn't like, even those with democratically elected leaders.

Other sociopathic signs include enduring patterns of lying (getting the U.S. in wars in Viet Nam and Iraq), greed (an astronomical defense budget), and manipulation (war on terror to justify a military empire).

False flag operations, like the CIA's use of torture, have an evil, psychopathic quality.

Covert operatives do a mass killing of innocent people and the act is falsely blamed on the "enemy." Bamford's "Body of Secrets" exposes the fact that the Joint Chiefs of Staff had approved a plot to blow up an Amerian passenger plane and blame it on Cuba as a pretext to invade Cuba.

Independent investigators have posited that 9/11 was false flag, an inside job used to justify invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and to launch the perpetual war on terror. Despite convincing evidence that the 9/11 Commission Report was rigged to present a false picture, the government has refused a new, independent investigation.

American "exceptionalism" a grandiose delusional disorder

A delusion, according to the DSM-5, is a false belief that is not amenable to change even in light of contradictory evidence. A grandiose delusion manifests an inflated sense of worth, power, and identity.

Neo conservatives boast that the U.S. is the "lone superpower" and declare that America is "exceptional" -- morally superior to other countries, and better than everyone else.

This "exceptionalism" justifies all sorts of behaviors from overthrowing governments to ignoring international law, to a justification for the Pentagon's plan for Full Spectrum Dominance.

Full Spectrum Dominance is not a peace plan. It is a grandiose military plot to control the world over land, on the seas, in the air, and up in space. With over 800 military installations worldwide and a large assortment of secret operations, the U.S. is widely seen not as "exceptional" or morally superior, but as a dangerous bully who is feared, resented, and often hated.

The Pentagon is locked into the distant future to an ideological paradigm of adversaries, enemies, and advanced weaponry, with no world peace in sight even 50 years from now. There are no plans to eliminate nuclear weapons. None. Huge sums of money continue to go toward nuclear weaponry and their delivery systems.

Creating a world of enemies, real and imagined

After WWII the U.S. soon found another enemy -- the communists. The "Red Scare" was convenient to justify Pentagon ambitions, aided by terrorist attacks in Europe falsely blamed on the communists (Operation Gladio). Gladio was a murderous deception, an example of the national security state going purely psychopathic.

Terror pays big dividends for the business of war, keeping the citizenry frightened and willing to spend any amount of money to feel safe.

Invasions and covert operations to overthrow governments have created enemies worldwide, people who do not want to be ruled by the U.S. and its allies. But by creating enemies the military/industrial complex keeps itself relevant even while the domestic economy crumbles.

The use of "enemies" to manipulate the citizenry has been overplayed, the result of which has been to plunge America into a perpetual abyss of enemies, real and imagined. Because black box operations are secret, many military personnel themselves are kept in the dark.

Plunging into paranoid psychosis: enemies everywhere, they hate us

After communism was defeated the military/industrial complex needed a new enemy. By immediately blaming militant Muslims for the 9/11 attack, a new enemy was created even before the full facts had been established

September 7, 2013

DEMOCRATIZE UNITED NATIONS TO END TERRORISM

[Editor's note: This article was written by a Bangladeshi who felt

spiritually inspired. From a very poor country, the author

believes that the ideas about the UN were given to him

..."through inspiration from GOD."

Here is an opportunity to hear from those seldom given

a voice in geopolitics, and who are victims of an unfair

and failing global political system.]

Excerpts are presented below, maintaining the key points

from the author's analysis:

DEMOCRATIZE UNITED NATIONS TO END TERRORISM

The whole world has been brain washed to fight terrorism... Killing innocentcivilians creates no concern for them...Terrorism will come again and again unless the root cause of terrorism is identified and resolved.

The root cause of terrorism lies in the economic exploitation of the thirdworld countries by the rich and powerful western countries. You do not haveto be a "rocket scientist" to figure that out. Just look at the structure of"United Nation" (UN).

In UN, there are more than 200 [sic] member countries. UN has fifteen-memberSecurity Council. All the resolutions are passed in Security Council byvote. Ten members are rotated every year or so among all the 200 plus membercountries. Only five countries have the permanent membership in SecurityCouncil with a special veto power. Which means, any one of these fivecountries has the unlimited power to stop or reject any resolution voted inSecurity Council. These five countries are USA, UK, France, Russia andChina.

Among these five countries USA is from North America, UK, France and Russiaare from Europe, and China is from Asia. This representation of fivepermanent member of Security Council in UN is definitely not democratic andfair. Why there are three countries from Europe when the population ofEurope is much less than Asia? Why there is no country representation fromAfrica? Why there is no country from South America? Who will protect theinterest of majority of Black countries in Africa? Who will protect theinterest of majority of Spanish people in South America?

Is there any wonder why the countries of Black Africa and Spanish SouthAmerica are poor? China is looking after the interest of oriental countriesonly... A permanent member of a security council with unlimited and unconditional veto power plays an important role in distributing the world

wealth through UN organs like World Bank, IMF, WTO and so on. Similarly, Russia,UK and France are taking care of European nations.

I am not a racist. But I am bringing this up so that the whole world can seethe injustice and unfairness in the name of democracy and freedom. In thepresent world population about 60% Asians, 12% Europeans, 13% Africans, 14%Americans (North & South)... Now look at the five vetopower member representation. Three countries (UK, France and Russia) arerepresenting only 12% Europeans who are white. One country (USA) isrepresenting 14% of North & South Americans of which majority is Spanish butthere is no representation from Spanish South America. Only one country(China) is representing the 60% population of the world who is oriental andnon-white Asians...

...There is no representation from the 13% Africans, majorityof whom are Blacks. The poor and suffering class is clearly the BlackAfricans, Spanish South Americans and non-white Asians (please note that theArabians are considered as white and they are rich).

From the above statistics, it is obvious that the Four white permanentmembers of UN security Council is [sic] pulling the White nations and China ispulling the Oriental nations. Having no representation for the Blacks,Spanish and non-white Asians, these countries are continuing to suffer frompoverty, corruption and exploitation due to negligence in properdistribution of world wealth and investment.

UN is not only for the white and the oriental countries. UN is for the allcountries of the world. Therefore, for the sake of Justice, fairness anddemocracy, I demand that the UN structure be modified to have proportionaterepresentation in the Security Council permanent membership with veto power.

If we believe in democracy, then the five permanent members of the SecurityCouncil should represent the world population of Black, Spanish, non-whiteAsians and White fairly proportionately.

If we do not stop this discrimination in the UN, our empty slogan ofdemocracy and freedom is a mere hypocrisy and the root cause of worldterrorism.

[Editorial comment: We agree with the idea of a link between terrorism and the lack of a democratic voice for all countries. Unlike the UN Charter, the Earth Constitution provides for equal voting rights and proportionate representation for all, thus providing a better opportunity to create a civilized, fair and just world society.

The UN, despite a longstanding legal requirement to hold a Charter Review, has failed to do so. This failure draws into question the very legitimacy of the UN Charter itself, and also the legitimacy of the Security Council which continues to function on an undemocratic basis.]

*This article was first submitted to Democratic World Federalists, and is published

in Earth Federation News & Views with the author's permission.

-- DEMOCRATIC WORLD FEDERALISTSWorking for a Democratic World Federation55 New Montgomery St. #225, San Francisco, CA 94105-3421 Phone & Fax: 1-415-227-4880 www.dwfed.orgWorld Peace with Justice through Democratically Enacted and Enforceable World Law

September 3, 2013

Internet Chatter on Syria: Is the US Lying Again?

The Middle East is a victim of the geopolitical war system, with Syria just the latest example.

Internet chatter reveals much doubt as to whether or not the United States is telling the truth about chemical weapons use. The civil war in Syria is made far worse by the involvement by proxy of powerful nations such as the United States, Israel, and Russia.

The United Nations lacks a system to prevent wars by proxy, while the Earth Federation has a system of enforceable world law that would hold individuals, not nations, accountable.

Internet chatter: Deep distrust of the US government and fear of WW III if Syria attacked

"One cannot poke even lightly a hornet's nest and hope to avoid being attacked viciously in return. The spiral towards a wider conflict is easy to predict."

"I think that you, and my other friends online, will know by now that the present threat being posed by Obama in the 'oval orifice' is contrived. Our covert ops folk have been busy in Syria, killing hundreds of innocent people, then blaming Assad's government for use of chemical weapons..." "Obama threatens military action in Syria, based on contrived, false evidence, as happened to launch hostilities in Iraq by George Bush II. George used outlawed depleted uranium in 600 cruise missiles launched at Baghdad, 600,000 lbs. of radioactive material, dumped on innocent people."

"WW III? Syrian, Iranian Officials say Israel will be "Set on Fire" if US strikes." http://.infowars.com/ww3-syrian-iranian-officials-say-israel-will-be-set-on-fire-if-us-strikes/

The USA Project of World Domination versus the Earth Constitution

The recent revelations from Edward Snowden concerning massive NSA spying on the people of the US and the nations of Europe come as no surprise. Any person who is even marginally politically aware knows that the US has been systematically implementing a project of total world domination for the past 15 years, if not for the past several decades. Fifteen or more years ago, a group of key neoconservative leaders wrote and signed the document “Project for a New American Century.” This document (found on-line) has served as a blueprint for the tragic attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001 and for the systematic militarization of the US in its project for world domination that has taken place since that time. As Paul Craig Roberts, former US Assistant Secretary for the Treasury, puts this in a recent article:

By now the entire world must know that Washington is not merely lawless, but also totally out of control, reveling in arrogance and hubris, driven by desires for hegemony over the entire world. Washington is so paranoid and distrustful that it doesn’t even trust its own citizens or the European puppet governments that it has bought and paid for.

Washington is the only government that has ever used nuclear weapons, and Washington used them against a defeated government that was trying to surrender. Today the craziness in Washington is much worse. Decision-making councils are full of crazed neoconservative war-mongers, such as National Security Advisor Susan Rice, a threat to humanity. Washington think tanks and media are over-represented by neoconservatives such as William Kristol who wants to know “what good are nuclear weapons if you can’t use them?” http://www.opednews.com/articles/Has-Washington-s-Arrogance-by-Paul-Craig-Roberts-130702-784.html

For decades now, the US has had a policy of relating to other nations either as lackey nations (“allies”) or as enemy nations (destined for invasion or overthrow). The lackey nations, including Britain, France, and Germany, have compliantly followed US imperial policy by sending troops into Iraq and Afghanistan in order to justify and cover up the naked imperialism of the US through “a coalition of the willing.” After the revelations of NSA spying on the American people and on ally countries in Europe, the leaders of these European nations today express concern and outrage. But surely these leaders are not so naïve or stupid that they do not understand their immoral complicity with the destruction of Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and other countries relatively independent of the system of domination.

Surely, both the leaders and people of these countries know that the super-power is bent on world-empire and that their silence and complicity makes them modern-day heirs of their own past systems of slavery, colonialism, and devastation. Do we want democracy, justice and freedom for the people of Earth or not? If we see that every human being has the rights listed in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including “the right to life, liberty, and security of person,” then we give up our ethnocentrism, egoism, and selfishness and work to transform this corrupt world order.

You cannot have democracy in Britain, France, Germany, or the US—or anywhere else—if your country is a militarized cog in the global domination machine. Militarism destroys democracy on every front—through secrecy, through surveillance, through violation of human rights, and through diverting massive resources from health care, education, social security, and environmental protection toward weapons, destruction, and naked power politics.

After 1945 there was great hope in the United Nations, a hope that has since been clearly betrayed. We should question why the UN system cannot give us peace or democracy in the world. Perhaps the most fundamental right in the UN Universal Declaration that has never even been partially actualized is found in Article 28: “Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.” Under the present world order “life, liberty, and security of person” are impossible for every person on Earth. War, surveillance, violence, and poverty violate these daily for hundreds of millions of persons worldwide. The only possible world order that can give human beings a decent existence is global democracy.

A decent world order cannot come through the system of some 192 militarized territorial entities competing militarily and economically from a multiplicity of national interests, ideologies, religions, and selfish perspectives. The great French writer, Albert Camus, declared that we must free ourselves from this system that requires all of us to be “either victims or executioners.” Today’s world system makes it inevitable that we be either one or the other. The leaders of Britain, France, and Germany express outrage that the US is spying on them, but how can they possibly justify such outrage when they have willingly been part of the system of executioners against the victim countries worldwide?

To free ourselves from this militarized nightmare of victimization and execution, we must rise to a higher level of existence. Albert Einstein declared that no fundamental problem can be solved on the level within which that problem arose. We must move to a higher level of humanity, decency, and organization if we are to survive on this planet—if we are to respect human rights, establish justice, protect and restore the environment, and eliminate poverty and misery from the world.

The Constitution for the Federation of Earth (www.worldproblems.net), simply through the act of its ratification, raises humanity to this new level. In its very first article, the Constitution identifies the functions of a planetary democracy all of which are beyond the system of nation-states to accomplish. From this level of global democracy alone can we prevent war, disarm the nations, protect human rights for all persons, conserve world resources, eliminate poverty, and protect our planetary environment.

The Constitution sets up a democratic world system—free of surveillance, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, power politics, and violence—in which the people of Earth join together to make our planet a happy and peaceful home for all its citizens. It is not that people need to change their human nature. Rather, it is the system itself—a democratic economic and political system for the entire Earth—that will lift us beyond the dilemma of being either victims or executioners. In place of the chaos of some 192 competing, mostly militarized entities, we will have a democratic world parliament, a world judiciary, a civilian world police, and a world department of human rights called the “Ombudsmus.”

Let us place our outrage where it should be placed—not at the US in its project of global domination, not at Britain, France, or Germany for being lackeys in this imperial project, not at Arabs or Israelis or Iranians for struggling to survive within this brutal and unjust world system—but at the system itself which fosters these awful consequences and makes us all into either victims or executioners. If we raise the democratic system to a world level where it properly belongs, we will be liberating humanity for the project of justice, peace, and decency.

Let us study the Earth Constitution, promote the Earth Constitution with its global democratic system, and let us pledge allegiance to the Earth Constitution. We can have a truly new world, but it is each of us that must commit to building it. Our corrupt and complicit national leaders will not build it. They are too deeply embedded within the old system—too wealthy, too used to hypocrisy, too afraid, too compromised. We the people must take charge of our fate on this Earth—for our own sake, for the sake of our children, and for the stake of future generations. Let us all be a living part of this world-historical transformation of our planet from chaos to order, from war and violence to peace, and from a system of power and domination to planetary democracy. It is now or never. We must make our choice before it is too late.

BY: Dr. Glen T. Martin

Guest writer bio:

Glen T. Martin is the professor of philosophy and chair of the Peace Studies Program at Radford University in Virginia. He is President of the World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA) and the Institute on World Problems (IOWP). His personal website is www.radford.edu/gmartin.

April 17, 2013

Toward Democratic World Federation

The Big Idea

The Big Idea

What is the "Big Idea"? Put bluntly, establishing a democratic world government. Stated more softly, creating a democratic federal world union. Stated more simply, forming a democratic world federation.

The Big Idea is being put out in cyberspace (www.dwfed.org) by San Francisco-based Democratic World Federalists showing different "Paths to World Federation." DWF, an independent, nonprofit think tank and educational peace organization, identifies various "Paths" that could lead to the establishment of a democratic world federation.

Certain paths have special significance for the Earth Federation Movement. One path is to transform the United Nations. Activists are looking at instigating a United Nations Charter Review, and also establishing a UN Parliamentary Assembly.

Charter Review for EFM would be an opportunity to introduce the Earth Constitution to UN member nations and examine its benefits compared to the UN Charter. A UN Parliamentary Assembly could become the "House of Peoples" in the Earth Federation's World Parliament.

Another "Path" is to create a world constitution that supercedes the aging UN Charter. An Earth Federation democratic government is formed "inside the shell" of the UN organization, saving those UN agencies of proven effectiveness, but removing the undemocratic governing structure which rigs the system in favor of the few.

Under the Earth Constitution the permanent 5 veto nations of the UN will no longer have special privilege and power. Equality is introduced. The second class citizenship of 190 nations at the UN comes to an end and in its place, democratic equality for all.

The path to create a world constitution can be fast-tracked thanks to the visionary efforts of the World Constitution & Parliament Association. Many years ago WCPA saw the need for a world constitution, and proceeded to draft the Earth Constitution. It can be implemented immediately, a fact that environmental and anti-war activists may find quite attractive in view of the emergency nature of world problems.

Lesson from the democratic spring and occupy movement

The democratic spring and Occupy movement offer an opportunity for a new dimension of dialogue about solutions, particularly as the existing strategies of protesting and activist networking fall short. Activists have not looked at the United Nations for serious help because the UN itself is handcuffed by its obsolete Charter.

Although "think globally, act locally" enables a decentralized and widespread network of activist groups, there still needs to be an "act globally, act locally" component. Imagine a multinational corporation having to deal with Los Angeles and San Francisco versus having to deal with LA, SF, and the Earth Federation. Which type of structure is most likely to succeed?

The public is unaware that solutions exist to resolve global problems

The need for world government has not been on the media's agenda since the Cold War. The public, therefore, is completely unaware that potential solutions exist to resolve the problems that threaten the well-being of their families and the planet itself.

Establishment media, intellectuals, and politicians maintain a habitual and irresponsible silence regarding world government, a failure which is almost unforgivable since no other type of political system is capable of eliminating nuclear weapons, ending wars, controlling Big Money, and saving the environment.

If this analysis is correct, then we must somehow get the message out to the public. They have a right to know that an economic Armageddon, an environmental Armageddon, or a nuclear war Armageddon are not impossible problems we can never hope to change. There are solutions, but they are not talked about.

There is no shortcut to world peace except to establish a democratic federal world union

World federalists must somehow acknowledge an exciting but scary truth: There is no shortcut toworld peace except to establish a democratic federal world union.

To argue otherwise is to continue to endanger our planet , our nation, and our families.

Half-way measures are like treating pneumonia with a partial dose of penicillin. It won't work. We will need a full dosage of good (democratic world) government, one that can replace the present shadow government controlled by the .1%.

To restore faith and belief in good government, there must be real democracy, equality, and decentralization by means of federating.

I submit that the Earth Constitution can provide a trustworthy foundation for a new type of governance, one we can feel pride in, and experience a new sense of safety and well-being.

[Editor's note: This is a revised/modified version of a "President's message" submitted to Democratic World Federalists at its Annual Meeting on April 14, 2013. I am the President of DWF, re-elected for another one year term. The views expressed here do not represent the official position of DWF, but are the sole responsibility of the author. -- Roger Kotila, Ph.D.]

February 28, 2013

I HAVE A DREAM

[Editor's note: A DREAM OF PEACE provides a surprising challenge to cynics who believe that establishing a peaceful federal world union would be "impossible."

Such feelings of despair discourage people from taking constructive action. "There have always been wars, and there always will be wars," shrugs the cynic. Unfortunately, such a sense of futility casts a cold shadow over the will to create a safe and peaceful world, and reduces chances for meaningful change.

Columnist Bob Hanson's A DREAM OF PEACE offers an unexpected, simple, yet powerful message for those paralyzed by feelings of helplessness that "there is nothing any of us can do to save the world." Dr. Hanson refuses to indulge in this emotional dead end, and instead gives us a prescription for action. - Roger Kotila, Ph.D.]

A DREAM OF PEACE by Dr. Bob Hanson (first published in the Rossmoor News, January 16, 2013)

Next week we celebrate Martin Luther King Day. King had a dream. He dreamed that one day little children would be judged by their character, not the color of their skin. He dreamed that the American promise that all men (and women, I presume) are created equal, would someday be fulfilled. We haven’t fulfilled his dreams yet, but we have all observed much progress in that direction, not the least of which is re-electing an African-American as president. Things are moving in the right direction.

I also have a dream. Apparently, it was the vision of a song writer named Ed McCurdy who in 1950 put his dream to music in the song “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream.” The words go on to say that “all the nations had agreed to put an end to war.” MLK would also have subscribed to this dream.

I don’t expect this to happen while I’m alive, but unless life on this planet is brought to an end by a nuclear holocaust, I am confident that war will eventually be outlawed and future generations will look back upon the 20th Century, the way we now look at the Dark Ages.

Seeing a solution. In order to reach this point in the history of humankind, I am pretty sure we will need to accept democracy at the international level the way we take it for granted at the local, state and federal level. Just as war between California and Oregon is not a possibility because of our Federal system, democratic world federalism will make the possibility of war between Israel and Iran a non-starter. The current civil war in Syria could be solved by international law, international courts and an international police force. Costa Rica has discovered that they don’t need a military. When will the rest of the world figure this out as well? This could free up the resources of the world to eliminate poverty, eradicate diseases, combat global warming, provide universal education and a decent standard of living for all people on Earth.

Take the U.S. as an example. We squander more money on our military than we spend on education, natural resources, housing, and everything else combined. Yes…I said squander. The biggest share of our “defense” budget goes for weaponry developed to fight a war with the Soviet Union. One good example is the F-22 fighter jet. We have spent billions and billions on it, yet it has never flown a combat mission.

A good chunk of the military budget goes to maintain over a thousand bases throughout the world. Does Germany really need 60,000 of our troops to protect itself from who? France? These overseas bases cost us $250,000,000,000 a year.

Don't tell me we can't end war! One of my friends once said “we’ve always had war and always will have.” I refuse to believe that that is true. I plan on spending a good number of my remaining days here on earth proving him wrong. I have a dream.

Dr. Hanson can be reached at doctoroutdoors@comcast.net He is a Board member of Democratic World Federalists -- an international peace think tank/educational organization based in San Francisco, California, USA.

December 2, 2012 (revised December 6, 2012)Earth Constitution a gift to the world not yet taken

Joy to the world, peace on earth, goodwill to all. Happy holidays! But why does world peace seem so far away?

Even with the best of intentions (e.g, "love thy neighbor") a good and decent life for all has failed to materialize. War, brutality, and poverty stubbornly persist, casting a cold shadow over our world.

World federalists have known for over fifty years what would be needed to establish a world in which war between nations could be eliminated. They predicted accurately that the United Nations Charter could not yield world peace. The Charter was not democrat, nor was it federal in design. Provisions for effective enforceable world law were absent.

The UN's International Court of Justice was to be used for nation versus nation, but with no real way to enforce decisions, and with no means to hold individuals accoutable. In the end, the most powerful nations did whatever they wanted, no matter what the decision of the ICJ.

The recently established International Criminal Court for the first time held individual leaders accountable, but leaders of powerful nations were, as before, essentially above the law no matter what world crimes were committed. The ICC's jurisdiction was too narrow, and means of enforcement unreliable.

Hence the the illegal aggressions of the United States, Israel, and China as just three examples, go unpunished. Invasions, covert operations including war by proxy, occupying other countries and territories, use of weapons of mass mutilation -- all are free of any legal consequences for those leaders who direct such world crimes.

The Earth Constitution was drafted by the World Constitution and Parliament Association because the UN Charter lacked the features that world federalists knew were needed to have a world that worked for everybody, provided fair and equal justice, and could end war.

Under the Earth Constitution, disputes and conflicts are resolved in the World Judiciary or by the World Parliament, not by going to war or by covert operations. In other words, the Earth Constitution, unlike the UN Charter, provides a means for peaceful alternatives to resolve conflicts.

The real question now is when will the media let the people know about the Earth Constitution, this gift to humanity? The holiday season would be a wonderful time to inform the public that there just might be a way to bring peace on earth, and goodwill to all.

-- Roger Kotila, editor Earth Federation News & Views

November 21, 2012Israeli Zionist Ambitions, Empire, Religious Extremism, Disarmageddon[This is a new article with excerpts from "Thoughts on Evil & Evil Empire" first published in September, 2012 but revised extensively in view of the current Israeli-Gaza conflict.]by Roger Kotila, Ph.D.

Israeli Zionist ambitions supported by American Empire

The Zionist dominated Israeli government gives the Jewish faith a bad name as it expands to establish an empire to control and to dominate the so-called "Promised Land."

The U.S. Congress cheers the Israeli leaders no matter what terrorist methods they use to expand beyond their borders, forcing the Palestinians out of their homes, and into submission. It is widely understood by political analysts that the U.S. Congress is a rubber stamp for the demands of AIPAC, the powerful American Israeli lobby.

The brutal attack on an essentially defenseless Gaza remains a world crime for which no Israeli leader has been prosecuted. Israel openly threatens Iran with an attack for allegedly trying to get a nuke, while the U.S. and the United Nations make no demand for Israel to get rid of its 200 nuclear weapons. Complete silence.

Religious extremism breeds evil in the Middle East

The religious fantasy of divine entitlement, if allowed to grow as it has since the beginning of the Jewish state of Israel in 1948, could lead to widespread war, perhaps even to an Armageddon event in the Middle East.

It is safe to say that all of the major religions in the West have been associated at one time or another with good and evil, and that actions in the Middle East by "extremists" have tainted the faiths of all -- Christian, Jew, and Muslim.

We observe Christian fundamentalists expecting and even encouraging a Middle East conflict to bring about Armageddon in order to fulfill the End Times fantasies of Biblical prophecy. These extremist Christians support Israel's Zionist expansionism to illegally conquer the Promised Land and all of Jerusalem.

Zionist extremists in Israel's government routinely issue warnings and threats that they will attack Iran. Gaza is again under attack, with threats of invasion.

Meanwhile, extremist orthodox Jews continue to establish illegal new settlements on Palestinian land and in Jerusalem, further increasing tensions. The United Nations has been unable to control Israel's use of terror tactics and its routine violations of international law, while the U.S. has been openly complicit in these world crimes, giving Israel money and weapons.

Out of control religious extremism

Zionist Jewscling to the grandiose delusion of being God's "chosen people" and thus claim the right to drive the Palestinians out oftheir homes by any means necessary.

Fundamentalist Christians insist that Armageddonis inevitable and refuse to question itswisdom despite the fact that it wouldmean the suffering and death ofmultitudes of the innocent.

In all of these examples, great evils go unchecked, allowed to continue because an honest analysis is not permitted, or if it is, people refuse to listen. The current conflict in the Middle East is a classic example where few are willing to challenge the delusional ideology that the Jews are God's "chosen" people with the absolute right to the Holy Land, aka the Promised Land, and with the right to take away Palestinian homes and territory.

Because "Armageddon" itself is considered a sacred prophecy by religious extremists, they may fuel the flames of hatred and violence between Israel and Palestine in the secret hope that it will hasten the predicted Armageddon. What is to be gained? According to their interpretation of prophecy Jesus comes down to earth just before the great nightmare and believers are spared, taken to heaven in the Rapture.

Breaking the hex of the Armageddon prophecy

Fundamentalist Christians have a sacred narrative predicting End Times. For those who take "sacred" overly seriously, this results in failing to take action to prevent Armageddon because it is predicted in sacred texts and therefore, is inevitable.

Rather than taking the steps necessary to avoid such a terrible catastrophe, they remain as if paralyzed because in their mind the up and coming end of the world is God's will. What right do we have to question it? And if that is what God wants, there is nothing anyone can do to stop it, anyway!

Another danger is that of a self-fulfilling prophecy. One helps to make the prophecy come true by helping it to occur. We see this when fundamentalist evangelical Christians actually support and encourage Israeli Zionist Jews to continue their illegal expansion into Palestinian territories, despite the fact that such actions cause deep resentments which could eventually erupt into violent conflict and war -- hence, a possible Armageddon.

There may also be unconscious fear in believers that Armageddon might actually be preventable. Talk of "disarmageddon" therefore, is met with incredulity. For those who believe that the whole Bible is absolutely true, the idea that a prophecy might not happen is unthinkable and frightening because preventing this Biblical prophecy can be seen as a threat to the perfection or basic truth of the faith itself.

How to get out of such a dilemma if you are a good and decent person, and also devoutly religious?

Good and decent people reject extremist religious values

Here we should say that the vast majority of people of these religious faiths are good and decent people, willing to live, and to let live. Good Christians, good Jews, and good Muslims the world over reject violence, war, and intolerance as do followers of the major religions in the East such as Buddhists and Hindu's. They respect love and kindness, and respect each others' religion.

Evil does not need to win

Unfortunately, the belief that Armageddon is inevitable causes many religious people to consider it impossible to stop. As a result the believer's attention is spent on working and praying for personal salvation rather than helping activists who are trying to replace the global war system with a peace system.

Yet most Christians would admit that if Jesus were here today he would do everything in his power to prevent the horrible suffering which would be unleashed in Armageddon. After all, Jesus is the Prince of Peace, not the prince of death and destruction.

Most Christians willalso admit that, although unlikely, God who is "all powerful" could change his/her mind and cancel the Armageddon prophecy at any time, now or in the future.

Becoming a peace activist determined to prevent Armageddon

At a practical geopolitical level Disarmageddon will mean changing the undemocratic global political system centered around the flawed and inadequate United Nations Charter. The UN is simply unable to cope with a combination of Israeli Zionist empire and American Empire joined together to control and to dominate the Middle East.

The undue influence of the Israeli Lobby on the U.S. Congress must come to an end. Jews and Christians alike can challenge this toxic relationship.People can call for an end to the grandiose fantasies of Empire, and instead seek world union with mutual respect and caring for all peoples and nations.

The Earth Constitution marks a new direction for geopolitics, one which offers a more positive future for the world.

Embracing the Earth Constitution and the need for world union

Enter the Earth Constitution with the intellectual and moral standards needed to bring integrity back to government. Designed to establish good government and world union, it offers a path by which the citizenry can start to eliminate the evils of corrupt leadership in nations, while offering the people of the world a realistic means to become free from war, free from poverty, and free from the secret police state.

The Earth Constitution cannot solve all problems. The world will never be perfect. However, it can give us a structure that supports the good and decent people in the world who want nothing more than to be able to live in peace, and to raise their families in a decent and safe world.

-- Editor, Earth Federation News & Views

November 15, 2012

Drones and Terror Wars: Attacking the Heart of Civilization Itself and What We Can Do About It

(excerpts of an article by Glen T. Martin published November 11, 2012)

911 AS TURNING POINT. Those high officials in the U.S. government who formulated the Project for the New American Century Document in the late 1990s envisioned the 21st Century as “the American Century” with military domination of the entire world by the U.S.

Yet the document stated that the American people would not go along with the “sacrifice” and immense military expansion this required unless they experienced “a new Pearl Harbor,” some attack on American soil so devastating that people would be mobilized to support perpetual war and militarism. This most conveniently happened in September 2001. Civil liberties were soon curtailed and habeas corpus eliminated even for US citizens if the government suspected they were associated with “terrorism.” Universal surveillance was soon implemented, and a perpetual war on terror announced that required military intervention anywhere in the world at any time indefinitely into the future.

From top secret to a publicly announced war on human civilization and the rule of law

U.S. POLICY HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED, therefore, from a top secret clandestine policy of black op assassination, kidnapping, torture, and murder developed in the 1960s to an official, publicly announced war on human civilization and the rule of law. Due process of law has been abandoned for the barbarity of arbitrarily killing anyone suspected of being the “enemy.” Unmanned drones, killing people around the world from control points in Nevada or Florida, are merely a symbol of this barbarity, but it is also there in President Obama’s policy of “targeted assassinations,” and in his policy of never ending worldwide “war” that he adopted from his predecessor George W. Bush.

THE VERY CONCEPT OF DUE PROCESS OF LAW HAS BEEN ABANDONED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. The fact that American citizens are not exempted is merely a consequence of the barbaric logic of this policy. For “war” is precisely the opposite of the rule of law. It dispenses with human rights, human dignity, and human protection under the law to simply kill and destroy whomever is perceived as opposing its power and domination. It is not only the continuing threat of nuclear holocaust that is facing the world due to the barbarism of sovereign nation-states, and it is not only impending climate collapse endangering our future, but the very progress of civilization is threatened by the US policy of perpetual, limitless war.

Liquid War targets whole populations such as Palestinians subjected to genocidal conditions

In his 2006 book Globalistan: How the Globalized World Is Dissolving Into Liquid War, internationally known journalist Pepe Escobar details the worldwide devastation caused by the U.S. in its attempt to enforce and secure its global economic and military empire. Not only are whole populations deprived of due process of law by U.S. supported dictators, and not only are whole populations such as the Palestinians subjected to genocidal conditions by the U.S. and its ally Israel, but the resistance efforts of the starving and hungry peoples of super-exploited countries must be crushed by the U.S. training of military oppressors in their respective countries or by direct drone or special forces assassinations by the U.S. military itself. The world is descending into “liquid war” by these policies, Escobar repeatedly shows, and the due process rule of democratic law is entirely gone from our conceptual framework except as Orwellian double-speak.

Building a new civilization through world union

HOW TO RECLAIM THE FUTURE. All these empires have one thing in common. They were all products of the system of sovereign nation-states first codified in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The thinkers since that time, including Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke, Kant, and Hegel, all recognized that this was a “war system” in that these nations (by definition as “sovereign”) recognized no enforceable laws above themselves. This war system was simultaneously the source of empires, since without the effective rule of law above nations those that are more powerful will inevitably seek to extend their power as widely as possible and secure through military force the resources and cheap labor of weaker nations.

Our only option, if we want to preserve and promote civilization on this planet, is to focus on the Constitution for the Federation of Earth. This document unites the nations of the Earth under a global democratic constitution in the same way that the states of the United States were united under a federal constitution that preserves their relative independence while making them subject to binding federal constitutional law. The trajectory of civilization from ancient times to the present in terms of the rule of law and due process of law culminates in the concept of democratic law for all humanity. The Earth Constitution, although available for immediate ratification under its Article 17, can and should also function as a regulative ideal for human activism, thought, and aspirations. As a regulative ideal it serves as a coherent and consistent vision of a just, equitable, and sustainable world system established and democratically maintained under the concepts of the rule of law and due process of law for all persons on Earth.

The most effective way to oppose the empire and stand for justice and integrity is not through anarchic non-violent resistance alone, nor is it through guerrilla warfare or violent revolution. Ideas are ultimately more powerful than weapons. We must envision the rule of law and due process of law as ideals for all persons and nations. This cannot be done for the system of sovereign nations as it now stands since there is an internal contradiction between the concept of a sovereign nation and the concept of the democratic due process of law.

The very heart of the human civilization project

A coherent vision of the rule of law and due process of law, that is, of a civilized world system, requires the concept of a Constitution for the Federation of Earth. The U.S.-led global system of liquid terror, abjuring the rule of law worldwide, can only be effectively stopped through conceptual clarity—by seeing barbarism for what it is and by seeing the heart of civilization for what it is.

THE EARTH CONSTITUTION MUST BE STUDIED, PROMOTED, AND RAISED UP as a regulative ideal symbolizing the very heart of the human civilizational project. Only an emerging Earth Federation can abolish war forever from the Earth, just as only an emerging Earth Federation can protect our planetary environment for future generations. The Earth Constitution symbolizes the very opposite of the terror drones and their perpetual liquid war. It symbolizes the due process rule of law for every person on Earth which is the key to a life of justice, dignity, and freedom for all—the actualization of our human civilizational project.

Here we should say that the vast majority of people of these religious faiths are good and decent people, willing to live, and to let live. Good Christians, good Jews, and good Muslims the world over reject violence, war, and intolerance as do followers of the major religions in the East such as Buddhists and Hindu's. They respect love and kindness, and respect each others' religion.

The psychological cloak of "sacred" allows evil to mystify good people

We are taught from a very young age that our country is great and good, that capitalism is the only rational and successful economic system, and that our religion is true. With enough repetition, these beliefs subconsciously achieve "sacred" status to the point that serious criticism is no longer considered needed, or welcomed.

Unfortunately the positive aspects of belief systems like nationalism (love of country), capitalism (incentives to work and to create), and religion (moral and ethical guidelines) harbor hidden evils which, surprisingly, remain unacknowledged by good and decent people, hence go unchecked.

Once sacrosanct, such belief systems become inviolable -- immune from criticism. Shrouded by this cloak of the sacred, any accusation of wrongdoing or imperfection is taboo. Criticism is reacted to as if it were heresy which acts to mystify even otherwise intelligent, good people. Evil has won.

When evil goes unacknowledged bad things happen

> Maladaptive nationalism. Symptoms of maladaptive nationalism can be seen in exaggerated American pride ("We are # 1! We are the best country in the world! We are the good guys."). Feeling favored by the divine, our leaders like to end their speeches with a confident "God bless America!" This grandiose narcissism creates a cloak of sacredness, and it blinds us to American imperfections and world crimes.

Nation worship prevents most good and decent people from an honest examination of the Pentagon whose grandiose ambitions to dominate the world (Full Spectrum Dominance) have destroyed the lives of thousands upon thousands of innocent people in foreign countries that we have illegally invaded, overthrown, or secretly corrupted.

Sadly for Americans, they also become the victims of this militarization as huge amounts of money are spent on advanced weaponry, wars, and over 700 military bases worldwide. It means ever less money for basic needs at home such as for health care, education, and for civilian jobs.

Most people want to believe in their country, that it is good and great. Americans have tended to forgive the lies that led to the Viet Nam war and the invasion of Iraq. So when the 9/11 Commission Report came out, the Establishment media refused to believe that the Report might be a cover-up despite mounting evidence by 9/11 researchers to the contrary.

Why should we care? Some people in power are sociopath's. Leaders who will lie and cause wars, might also plot to create incidents which make Americans feel they are under attack. A shock and awe incident like 9/11 causes fear and paranoia, and the citizenry become easily manipulated to the point where constitutional protections are lost. Use of indefinite detention without trial is one example -- a clear violation of international law and universal human rights.

The Earth Constitution's world judiciary system is designed so that if a nation becomes so corrupted that it cannot be fixed from within, then its citizens can appeal to the Earth Federation for help. An outside investigation can be launched on the authorities who are suspected of corruption.

> Godless capitalism. Capitalism in America is a form of religion. Profit is substituted for God. The free market and privatization is placed on a pedestal. Capitalism is endlessly praised for its supposed virtues despite ample evidence to the contrary. Government is belittled. Privatization is a ploy for the very wealthy to gain added profit centers. Regulation is fiercely opposed despite the corrupt banking and corporate practices which have helped to destroy the economy for the middle classes, yet produced great concentrations of wealth for the few (the 1%).

Godless capitalism, namely the predatory/monopoly type, has produced the equivalent of a modern feudal system with a handful of people around the world owning most of the resources, assets, and wealth. Like the game of Monopoly, if you own all of the valuable properties, you are set for life. Those without property (the 80%) become like peasants, renting from the Master, stuck in lifelong debt.

One utters the phrase "godless capitalism" at one's own risk as it is so highly idolized as to have become a sacred icon, with profit being at the top of the list. Objectively however, predatory/monopoly capitalism has produced serious evils including huge inequalities in income, poverty level wages with few benefits, and loss of democracy. Money rules.

It is an economic belief system which, we are told, is the "best in the world" despite the condemning evidence to the contrary. Where the economic system is primarily capitalistic, there is almost always a big gap between the rich and the poor unless taxes on the rich are high.

When Russia abandoned communism for capitalism, the standard of living for most people dropped dramatically, financial security was lost, and a small group of people became overnight millionaires and even billionaires. The U.S. has almost 40% of its entire population one or two paychecks away from financial disaster. Many of these folks could go bankrupt with a serious medical illness, and many cannot afford to go to the dentist. A college education in the U.S. can leave a young person in debt for life.

Under strict capitalism, one must "pay to play." Hence, one is not guaranteed food, clothing, shelter, or any of the other basics for life. In point of fact, a balanced mixture of socialism and capitalism is far superior as seen in countries like Finland and other Scandinavian countries.

> Out of control religious extremism

Regarding religion, extremist Muslims use threats and actual violence if one dares "insult" Mohammed. Fundamentalist Christians insist that Armageddon is inevitable and refuse to question its wisdom despite the fact that it would mean the suffering and death of multitudes of the innocent. Zionist Jews cling to the grandiose delusion of being God's "chosen people" and thus claim the right to drive the Palestinians out of their homes by any means necessary.

In all of these examples, great evils go unchecked, allowed to continue because an honest analysis is not permitted, or if it is, people refuse to listen. The current conflict in the Middle East is a classic example where few are willing to challenge the delusional ideology that the Jews are God's "chosen" people with the absolute right to the Holy Land, aka the Promised Land, and with the right to take away Palestinian homes and territory.

This religious fantasy of divine entitlement, if allowed to grow as it has since the beginning of the Jewish state of Israel in 1948, could lead to widespread war, perhaps even to an Armageddon event in the Middle East.

Because "Armageddon" itself is considered a sacred prophecy by religious extremists, they may fuel the flames of hatred and violence between Israel and Palestine in the secret hope that it will hasten the predicted Armageddon. What is to be gained? According to their interpretation of prophecy Jesus (or Mohammed) comes down to earth just before the great nightmare and believers are spared, taken to heaven in the Rapture.

Breaking the hex of the Armageddon prophecy

Both Christians and Muslims have a sacred narrative predicting End Times. For those who take "sacred" overly seriously, this can mean that they decline to take action to prevent Armageddon because in their view it is predicted in sacred texts and therefore, is inevitable.

Rather than taking the steps necessary to avoid such a terrible catastrophe, they remain as if paralyzed because in their mind the up and coming end of the world is God's will. What right do we have to question it? And if that is what God wants, there is nothing anyone can do to stop it, anyway!

Another danger is that of a self-fulfilling prophecy. One helps to make the prophecy come true by helping it to occur. We see this when fundamentalist evangelical Christians actually support and encourage Israeli Zionist Jews to continue their illegal expansion into Palestinian territories, despite the fact that such actions cause deep resentments which could eventually erupt into violent conflict and war -- hence, a possible Armageddon.

There may also be an unconscious fear in believers that Armageddon might actually be preventable. Talk of "disarmageddon" therefore, is met with incredulity. For those who believe that the whole Bible is absolutely true, the idea that a prophecy might not happen is unthinkable. It is also frightening because preventing such a predicted disaster may be seen as a threat to the perfection or basic truth of the faith itself.

How to get out of such a dilemma if you are a good and decent person, and also devoutly religious?

Can God change his/her mind?

The belief that Armageddon is inevitable and can't be prevented causes many good people to consider it impossible to stop. Believers pray for personal salvation but fail to get actively involved with peace activists to eliminate the global war system and replace it with a global peace system.

Yet most Christians would admit that if Jesus were here today he would do everything in his power to prevent the horrible suffering which would be unleashed in Armageddon. After all, Jesus is the Prince of Peace, not the prince of death and destruction.

Most Christians also will admit that, although unlikely, God who is "all powerful" could change his/her mind and cancel the Armageddon prophecy at any time, now or in the future.

How might Jesus view the evils in capitalism?

The world is told time and time again that capitalism is the only acceptable economic system. Ironically, we are warned to avoid socialism (and communism) despite the fact that Jesus spoke clearly of the evils of capitalism, and lived his life closer to the values of socialism. Jesus healed for free, fed people without their having to pay money, and relied on the generosity of friends and strangers.

Under a socialist economy no one needs to go hungry. Food and shelter are considered a right, as is health care. There is cooperation and sharing. Those who have more, share with those who have less.

In modern times we now know that many of the wars such as in the Middle East have been for resources such as oil. We know that the CIA and the U.S. military are used to allow multinational corporations to take over weaker nations, extract their natural resources, and have access to cheap labor. Domination by predatory capitalism takes many forms: The secret overthrowing of governments; outright invasion; economic terrorism; assassinations.

Predatory monopoly capitalism has not ended poverty, it has caused it -- as the facts regarding the unequal distribution of wealth clearly show. Poverty in the world, because it represents "unnecessary suffering," is just another example of evil caused by an extremist belief (in the ideology of capitalism). The 1% make a killing at the expense of the good and decent people of the world.

A few rotten apples spoil the whole barrel Those in significant power around the world are not a large group, perhaps anywhere from 2000 to 5000 people. This small group of individuals according to some analysts appear to dominate and to rule the modern world. Making up about .1% of the 1%, they include a mixture of political leaders from a few powerful nations, corporate and banking tycoons, military generals, old money, secret agency heads, a few religious or mystical extremists, and sociopathic intellectuals who justify evil by means of sophisticated propaganda methods used on the unsuspecting public.

These individuals collectively have sometimes been viewed as the ruling class, or as a shadow world government. Their decisions and policies impact the entire world. Occupy Wall Street protesters would argue that the selfish greed of the "1%" is responsible for the economic hardships faced by the 99%.

Evil does not need to win

A world run in an undemocratic, selfish, and manipulative fashion by a small group of people can be put out of business. But networking and protests are not enough. A new global political system must be established which replaces the current global war system.

This means replacing the United Nations Charter with a new democratic governance structure which returns power to "we, the people." Global democracy matters, as does a means to establish and enforce world laws to limit the harm done by Big Money, Big Power, and sociopathic selfishness. No one should be above the law.

Antidote for evil and evil empire by embracing the Earth Constitution

Enter the Earth Constitution with the intellectual and moral standards needed to bring integrity back to government. Designed to establish good government, it offers a path by which the citizenry can start to eliminate the evils of corrupt leadership in government and business, while offering the good and decent people of the world a realistic means to become free from war, free from poverty, and free from the secret police state.

Good government would be joyously received by all except the evil doers -- those who seek power only for themselves and to dominate others at any cost. The disastrous harm to humanity by these extremists can be moderated, and in most severe cases, eliminated. For example, with Earth Federation government the prospects for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons are very good.

The Earth Federation Movement offers an exciting opportunity to bring back hope and idealism to "we, the people." The EFM's Earth Constitution offers a government structure which opens the door to new positive possibilities such as a type of government that we can be proud of, rather than ashamed. The Earth Federation will have a democratically elected World Parliament able to address the global problems which are too big for the nations to resolve on their own.

The Earth Constitution is as necessary for our survival as food and water. It makes the impossible, possible. Written by visionaries over a period of 30 years, a core value is that we are a global family. It opens the door to caring, love, and justice.

The law of the jungle and "every man for himself" are rejected as uncivilized and immoral. We must move away from predatory competition and replace it with cooperation, sharing, and kindness.

The Earth Constitution provides the potential for freedom from fear and violence, and freedom from hate and intolerance. It cannot solve all problems. The world will never be perfect. However, it can give us a structure that supports the good and decent people in the world who want nothing more than to be able to live in peace, and to raise their families in a safe, secure, and happy world.

-- Roger Kotila, Ph.D. Editor, Earth Federation News & Views

(End of part 3 of a 3 part series titled: Thoughts on Evil and Evil Empire) STOP

September 11, 2012"Godless capitalism, national security, empire, religious extremism"(This is part 2 of 3 on Thoughts on Evil and Evil Empire.) Part 1 of this Op/Ed essay can be found by scrolling down on this page to September 4, 2012.

A dreaded question Hitler was condemned for using torture. It was considered a war crime. Now America is known for torture, and has added assassinations and indefinite detention without trial.

A question which most in the Western world dread, but avoid asking: Has the American government and Congress with its Pentagon and secret agencies become a remorseless evil empire?

The aftermath of the nuclear devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the killing of untold countless innocent women and children did not lead America to denounce war or phase down its military. Instead, stoking up fears of communism, it launched the Cold War.

Sadly, the end of the Cold War with the demise of godless communism did not lead to America reducing its military. Conveniently for godless capitalism 9/11 came along offering the opportunity for another "war" -- the War on Terror. Like the Cold War, the War on Terror insures job security for national security professionals, and an extremely lucrative profit center for the military/industrial/research complex.

Insisting that America's "national security" is foremost, the U.S. government added more secret agencies, there is now Homeland Insecurity employing thousands, and the Pentagon maintains over 700 military bases around the world. This is Empire.

Is America the world's policeman for freedom and democracy -- the good guy, or has it become an evil empire? Unfortunately for those who want to believe in America as the good guy, there exists much documentation to the opposite, that American empire has the markings of evil.

Lies, secrecy,...to conquer by any means necessary

It is now well documented that lies launched the wars in Viet Nam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Moreover, the U.S. has used covert operations or outright invasions to overthrow governments, even some that were democratic but deemed unfriendly to capitalism. William Blum's Rogue State (2005) documents widespread American covert interventions in a multitude of nations such as Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti, Ecuador, Venezuela, Iran, and elsewhere throughout the world.

Secret agencies such as the CIA overthrow democratic governments seen as unfriendly to capitalism and American interests, yet protect dictatorships in nations which cooperate with Empire--nations such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Nations "freed" from dictators like in Iraq appear to be colonized using a puppet government to carry out the policies of Empire.

Fantasy of empire: Full Spectrum Dominance

Full Spectrum Dominance is a military policy which calls for military domination on land, air, sea, and space. FSD is not just about having advanced weaponry. It includes other methods for control such as assuming the right to assassinate real and imagined "enemies," or to use indefinite detention without trial.

To make other nations bend to the will of empire, weaker governments are sometimes corrupted, or intimidated by use of economic threats or military coercion.

To maintain an atmosphere of paranoia, there are strong suspicions that secret false flag operations are conducted which kill or otherwise terrorize, yet put the blame on someone else. Ideal for creating false enemies, essential to keep the citizenry frightened and willing to spend unlimited sums of money on the military over domestic needs.

(There has been speculation by 9/11 truth researchers that 9/11 was a false flag operation. The 9/11 Commission Report has been thoroughly discredited by outside, independent investigators. Yet after 9/11 the military budget is practically unlimited.)

Controlling citizenry at home and abroad by use of dirty tricks, and adding illegal surveillance on its own citizens -- all begin to sound similar to the days of Nazi Germany.

Zionist ambitions supported by American empire

Zionist dominated Israel gives the Jewish faith a bad name as it expands to establish an empire to control and to dominate the so-called "Promised Land." The U.S. Congress cheers the Israeli leaders no matter what terrorist methods they use to expand beyond their borders forcing the Palestinians out of their homes, and into submission.

The brutal attack on defenseless Gaza remains a world crime for which no Israeli leader has been prosecuted. Israel openly threatens Iran with an attack for allegedly trying to get a nuke, while the U.S. and the U.N. make no demand for Israel to get rid of its 200 nuclear weapons. Complete silence.

Religious extremism breeds evil in the Middle East

It is safe to say that all of the major religions in the West have been associated at one time or another with good and evil, and that actions in the Mideast by "extremists" have tainted the faiths of all -- Christian, Jew, and Muslim.

We observe Christian fundamentalists expecting and even encouraging a Middle East conflict to bring about Armageddon in order to fulfill the End Times fantasies of Biblical prophecy. These extremists Christians support Israel's Zionist expansionism to illegally conquer the Promised Land and all of Jerusalem.

Zionist extremists in Israel's government routinely issue warnings and threats that they will attack Iran. Moderate and progressive Jews are unable to stop them. Extremist orthodox Jews continue to establish illegal new settlements on Palestinian land and in Jerusalem further increasing tensions.

Taliban-like Muslims appear to be extremists who use religious dogma as justification for violating universal human rights. They restrict the freedom of females as if they were property instead of humans, try to prevent girls from going to school, and threaten to kill anyone who criticizes Allah even in cartoon form.

In all of religious extremism there is manipulation by use of threats and psychological coercion, and by physical violence.The beliefs are so extreme that they cannot stand on their own. Nonbelievers are marginalized and forced to live by the rules of the extremists.

Good and decent people reject extremist religious values

Here we should say that the vast majority of people of these religious faiths are good and decent people, willing to live, and to let live. Good Christians, good Jews, and good Muslims the world over reject violence, war, and intolerance as do followers of the major religions in the East such as Buddhists and Hindu's. They respect love and kindness, and respect each others' religion.

End of Part 2 of a 3 part seriesThoughts on Evil and Evil Empire

September 4, 2012Thoughts on Evil and Evil Empire

[A three part series by the editor. This is an Op/Ed article which grew so long it became a 3 part essay. Editor takes full responsibility for its contents as the opinions expressed are those of the editor and may not necessarily reflect the views of the Earth Federation Movement.]

[Part 1 of 3]

Existence of evil

I do not know if there exists in the natural world Satan or the devil, but I do believe that "evil" itself exists, and sometimes manifests itself in the real world of politics, religious fundamentalism, and our daily lives.

I will define evil by giving examples of it from history to the present. Unnecessary suffering of the innocent is the primary sign of evil. Some form of extremism is almost always present. Evil is also defined in this analysis by using my own emotional reactions which tend to have a definite tone and pattern in the face of evil.

Identifying evil through one's emotional reactions

The emotional definition of what I have termed "evil" is marked by a progression of feelings as I think of each atrocity: First shock, then repulsion. Next horror coupled with deep anxiety that such wicked acts could even be conceived, much less acted upon. Finally, a deep sadness which penetrates my whole being.

Evil empire

Evil empire seeks to conquer others by any means necessary. Falsehoods, lies, secret operations, torture, war, and horrendous weaponry are some of the means used, and without remorse. There have been empires throughout history. For modern times we will look at American and Zionist empire.

What about the "good"?

I believe that "good" exists. I would like to believe in the reality of a good God who is full of love and compassion. In this respect we can look at the New Testament's Jesus -- the Prince of Peace as one example for the good. Most religions around the world can cite a prophet or teacher who, like Jesus, sought good over evil, and advocated love and peace.

But religious extremists often interfere with the making of peace, as if Satan, known for deception, captured their hearts and minds leading them to allow hate over love, and to support aggression and war in the name of God or Allah. They are deceived into thinking that their hate, intolerance, and aggression have God's blessing, not realizing that they are being tricked by Satan.

A hidden evil stands in the way of the good for the majority of people in the world. It is a bigger obstacle than religious extremists. This evil is what some might identify as a "shadow government" which consists of an unelected powerful elite of "shot-callers" who manipulate the public and governments for their own selfish gain rather than for the common good and the world public interest.

This type of evil is often associated with an economic ruling class who conduct a predatory type of monopoly capitalism. What was called "godless communism" has been defeated and replaced by godless capitalism. This type of capitalism places profit at the top its value system. It meets the criteria for evil because it proudly amasses the Creator's earthly resources at the cost of extreme poverty around the world to others -- hence causing unnecessary suffering.

The earth's resources are adequate for all. The Creator of the earth has given us everything we need. No one needs to go hungry, or without shelter. Poverty is a result of hoarding by the few. A refusal to share God's bounty here on earth.

Evildoers in history

The history of evildoers is long. Examples include Biblical stories where a sometimes angry Old Testament God orders the extermination of an "enemy" tribe even if it is an entire city, killing the guilty and innocent alike -- including women and children.

It is not long up the history chain when we find the Crusades conquering other lands in the name of God. History shows the Muslims had a similar era of attempted domination of the world by means of war, slaying those in its path who failed to pay homage to Allah.

There are also numerous secular examples of evildoers found in history. If attacking the innocent helps define evil, one need not look far in the past. The Soviet Union had Stalin sending countless enemies of the state, real and imagined, to the Gulag. We have China's Cultural Revolution with the Red Guard's persecution, including torture and death, of those who were seen as disagreeing with Maoist thought.

Then of course there is Germany's Hitler and the infamous Holocaust where millions of Jews and opponents of Nazi fascism were arrested in the dark of night by the Gestapo, imprisoned and often tortured, killed, or left to die in prison camps.

The instruments of evil empire

Empire worships violence. The instruments used for suffering and death tell an important story about the evil nature of Empire.

The Pentagon continued routine nuclear bomb testing for many years despite knowing that exposure to radioactive fallout could cause cancer. Both soldiers and civilians were exposed.

Nuclear bombs, capable of destroying the world, were not enough cruel weaponry for the generals and their corporate and research sidekicks. The Pentagon's extensive use of Agent Orange in both Viet Nam and Cambodia left a shameful legacy of illnesses for future generations. Agent Orange was not only used indiscriminately on civilian populations, our own soldiers were also victims. It is a poison which, like nuclear weapons, leads to multiple physical symptoms, birth defects, and even death.

Nowadays both soldiers and civilians are being exposed to depleted uranium munitions (dirty bombs) used by the Pentagon in Iraq and Afghanistan. The annihilation of the city of Fallujah saw the use of depleted uranium on a civilian population which is now leading to widespread birth deformities of the newborn, cancer, and other symptoms.

Weapons of mass mutilation

Not satisfied with weapons of mass destruction, empire also uses cluster bombs, white phosphorus, landmine's, and dense inert metal explosives -- weapons which can be described as dirty, ugly, sadistic, and cruel...weapons of mass mutilation.

Both the U.S. and Israel have been reported to be using these terrible weapons, and refuse to give them up. We can expect that Russia and China, too, have their share of these types of weapons.

The weapons of mass mutilation listed above are still in military arsenals. Evil? Yes. Yet no general is held accountable. No general has ever been tried for Crimes Against Humanity or War Crimes for authorizing the use of these horrible weapons.

Torture has been added to its list of methods by which empire can enforce its will. Water boarding is just one example, but is of extra importance as some 9/11 truth investigators believe that it was used to extract false confessions to cover-up the real facts of 9/11.

A dreaded question Hitler was condemned for using torture. It was considered a war crime. Now America is known for torture, and has added assassinations and indefinite detention without trial.

A question which most in the Western world dread, but avoid asking: Has the American government and Congress with its Pentagon and secret agencies become a remorseless evil empire?

STOP

[End of Part 1 of a 3 part series on "Thoughts on Evil and Evil Empire" an Op/Ed essay by editor Roger Kotila, Ph.D. Parts 2 and 3 to be published soon.]

August 15, 2012Editor's note:Who Should Jesus Bomb?
was written by columnist Bob Hanson, a Board member of Democratic World
Federalists. This article is timely as the Middle East -- what one
might call the Unholy Land, is about to explode. Syria is the first to
fall, and now Israel and the USA appear determined to attack Iran. Some
Christian churches remain either passively silent, see Muslims as an
enemy, or are secretly cheering for a full scale conflict in the
Promised Land signaling the onset of Armageddon.

To Believers, what's so thrilling about Armageddon? Jesus, they are
told, will return to earth and take the true Believers to heaven, thus
avoiding the great suffering of the End Times.

But if Jesus were alive today he would most likely be overwhelmingly
disgusted with the wars, the hate, and the longing for Armageddon.
Jesus would condemn those churches that condone war by their silence,
stoke hate against Muslims, or enthusiastically glamorize the military
and its weapons of death and destruction.

On the other hand, the Prince of Peace would undoubtedly be very proud
of those churches that are speaking out against war, and our own world
federalists who continually denounce war, and work tirelessly for world
peace. -- RK

August 15, 2012

Who Should Jesus Bomb? Dodging the peace issue in church
by Dr. Bob Hanson (published May 30, 2012 in the Rossmoor News, California)

Last week I had the good fortune to visit Shiloh, site of one of the biggest
battles in the Civil War. There were over 23,000 casualties in three days of
fighting. This historic park is located in southern Tennessee in the heart of
the “Bible Belt.”

The visit caused me to ponder on the question of why most of
the folks who live in the area aren’t pacifists? Having witnessed the results of
war and professing to be followers of a man named Jesus who is referred to as
the “Prince of Peace,” it would seem logical that the locals would devote their
lives toward creating a peaceful world.

On the contrary, this part of the country seems to produce politicians who
can’t wait to involve the country in the next war and who have never seen a
military budget item that they would vote against.

The original form of Christianity for the first three centuries was a
religion of pacifists, oppressed women, orphans, and despised people of all
stripes who rejected violence and tried to return good for evil. The earliest
Christians took seriously Jesus’ clear command to love and befriend their
enemies. Despite brutal Roman persecutions, the religion thrived. Unfortunately,
the Roman emperor Constantine converted the empire to the faith, and the church leaders, who were now
dependent on the empire felt obliged to support it and its troops.

There are still a few Christian churches that actively oppose war. Most
notable are the Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and the Quaker Friends. There
are also a few isolated mainline churches which are willing to take a stand for
peace. One of our neighbors, Duke Robinson, was minister for 28 years at the
Montclair Presbyterian Church, which proclaims itself a “peace church”. Strong
peace-oriented groups also exist at Christ The King Catholic Church, Our Savior
Lutheran and one or two other local churches….so there are exceptions.

The vast majority of Christian churches, however, dodge war and peace issues
completely, as if this isn’t something that their church should be concerned
with. I suspect the reason for this is that they feel (realistically) that many
of their members will abandon the church if it takes a stand on such a
controversial topic.

I was a member of a Methodist Church in San Diego during the ‘60s where the
minister spoke out forcefully in favor of the Rumford Act which was intended to
end discrimination in housing. Dozens of members left the church, causing a
major financial crisis for the remainder of us. Most ministers steer away from
any topic as controversial as peace.

It seems peculiar that the more fundamentalist a church is, the more they
seem to be cheerleaders for war, rather than pushing for peace, diplomacy, and
reconciliation. Perhaps they are more susceptible to the messages of fear
distributed by the military/industrial/congressional war-mongers as their
members tend to be less educated and informed regarding international matters.

The suggestion of “an eye for an eye” (Old Testament) seems to resonate more
than Jesus’ message of “turn the other cheek.”

If I were to be given one wish by that proverbial genie that pops out of a
bottle, I think it would be that America’s Christians see the light and follow
the teachings of Jesus. Maybe then we put the scourge of war behind us and lead
the world to a peaceful future where war is a thing of the
past.

August 7, 2012 (updated on Aug. 9, 2012))Evidence Mounts that the United Nations global system of governance is fatally inadequate for today's world

The UN has been unable to cope with growing geopolitical violence, lawlessness, and environmental crises. Bully nations, special interests, and Big Money plunder "we, the people" with impunity.

The currently expanding violence in the Middle East seen in Syria with Iran next, illustrates clearly the impotence of the United Nations to prevent wars or to hold responsible those leaders of "Bully" nations who use their military and economic powers to intimidate and to undermine weaker governments.

Special interests such as oil corporations relentlessly pursue natural gas fracking no matter whose water supply catches on fire, while refusing to reveal the chemicals being used in the process. Big banks and international investment firms continue to use computer driven formula's to extract huge profits while taxpayers must carry the burden of the losses.

Bully nations undermine governments they don't like. We see, for example, Israel telling Iran it cannot have nuclear weapons, while Israel itself harbors an estimated 200 nukes. Why the double standard? Israel, backed by its sponsor the United States, has superior military and economic forces which can subdue any weaker nation which defies it.

It also now appears that Israel/US has also been using covert operations to undermine the Iranian government, a process which also appears to have occur both in Libya and currently in Syria.

The goal? Violently if necessary, to take over these countries to have domination and control over the entire Middle East.

The moral and legal problems with all of this are that these actions amount to state sponsored and instigated terrorism, and a violation of international laws. The United Nations is simply not equipped to prevent these rogue actions, or prosecute for world crimes.

The result for the citizens of these unfortunate countries targeted to be overthrown is the nightmare which befell Afghanistan and the Palestinians -- devastated by war and conflict, and "we, the people" are forced into refugee status -- thousands upon thousands of families devastated, their lives now in shambles.

It does not help that the dictator in Syria, like in Libya, refused to turn over the country to democratic order, rather choosing to fight to maintain dictatorship control. Far better if the dictators would have peacefully given up power and accepted democratic rule. (This may have happened in Libya, but the US/NATO refused to negotiate probably to avoid the outcome of a genuine democracy in Libya; rather, like in Iraq and Afghanistan, Libya is to become colonized with the real "shot-callers" being the western powers -- to insure private oil corporation regain access to Libyan's oil resources.)

There are other factors besides oil accounting for the current attempts by western powers to overthrow governments. China, Russia, and India will be weakened by losing a foothold in the Middle East. Israel will be able to do whatever it wants with the Palestinians with continued impunity -- including genocide. The UN's structure does not provide a means for enforceable world law, hence like the US, Israel's open defiance of international laws cannot be stopped.

The solution to these geopolitical manipulations by the Bullies and by sociopathic Big Money is Earth Federation government under the Earth Constitution. The United Nations should join in with the Earth Federation Movement, and re-invent itself into a true democratic world federation. A global peace system is possible, human rights can be protected, and the world's economic model can be changed to one which benefits not just the 1%, but also the 99%.

It is time for the United Nations to realize the its present structure is preventing it from protecting "we, the people." The UN should no longer allow itself to be paralyzed by a UN Charter which favors a small undemocratic minority. It is time for the UN to turn to the Earth Constitution. Editor - EFM News & Views (this Op/Ed completed 8/9/12)

July 13, 2012"I believe that someday historians will recognize Philip Isely as one of the truly great figures of 20th century history." -- Professor Glen Martin

Editor's note: In 1995 Dr. Martin learned about the World Constitution & Parliament Association led by Philip Isely, and joined. Martin's "In Memory of Philip Isely" describes some of his personal experiences with Mr. Isely, and also explains why he believes that Isely's legacy toward establishing world government is unusually significant.

In Memory of Philip Isely

Glen T. Martin

July 2012

The passing of Philip Isely from this world symbolizes the end of an era. Philip was one of the last of the great visionaries who came out of the powerful transformative world federalist movement that emerged from the Second World War. With his first wife Margaret, he devoted his life energies to creating a Constitution for the Federation of Earth and promoting its ratification by the peoples and nations of Earth. It is not likely that the Constitution would exist today if it were not for the dedication and vision of the Iselys and the many people they organized over a period of some four decades through the World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA).

I first learned of and joined the work of WCPA in 1995, flying to World Headquarters in Denver, CO, where the Iselys lived and maintained the two storey building with six employees that was then WCPA World Headquarters.Philip was known for his strong temper and his unwillingness to work with other world federalist organizations that had a more evolutionary view of the movement toward democratic world government.In one of these 1995 meetings of the WCPA Executive Council, I saw very clearly one of the reasons behind his intransigence.I participated with some ten other people from around the world in a brainstorming session in the WCPA offices in Denver. Our task, assigned by Philip Isely, was to come up with how and when we could organize a founding ratification convention for the Earth Constitution.

After lengthy deliberation, we went around the table giving our thoughts on the subject. One person after another spoke of educating the public, contacting interested countries, soliciting major sponsors, creating media events, influencing promising politicians, speaking with UN representatives, raising funds, etc.Isely was the last to speak.He blew up. He yelled at us in obvious anger:“We are revolutionaries!” he said.“We are not here to pussy foot and dance around within the present world system that is threatening the world with destruction. We are about changing that system. We need to push the transformation of the system to completion now, not put off what is truly needed by endless compromises with the system.We all need to think again and think better. Not how can we endlessly postpone what is needed.But how can we ratify the Constitution for the Federation of Earth here and now, in the near future.”

With this outburst, I knew I had come to the right place. Isely had a critical understanding of the global economic and nation-state system that few in the worldwide federalist movement possess. He saw that the present global economic system could not be evolved into something useful for human welfare, that neoliberal capitalism as we know it was a toxic poison for humanity.He saw that the nation-state system could not be evolved through slow evolutionary change or through reform of the United Nations into something beneficial to human welfare. The nation-state system is toxic in its very foundations and is leading, in collaboration with poisonous corporate capitalism, to the destruction of our planet and the human project.

Philip Isely saw that it was absolutely imperative to establish world government as soon as possible thereby founding an economic and political system for the planet that served human welfare rather than destroyed human welfare.He was about doing it, and his great energy and intelligence were dedicated to making it happen. It was these insights that were at the heart of his hostility toward many other World Federalist Organizations that were more evolutionary and less revolutionary in spirit.

In my 2011 book The Earth Federation Movement, I sketch out some of the background to the WCPA led by Isely with the goal of writing a Constitution for the Federation of Earth:

Our foremost visionary leader who led the effort to create a world constitution was Henry PhilipIsely. Iselyhad been confined to a U.S. Federal Prison during the Second World War as a warresister who believed that both world wars had been caused at the deepest level by the lawless rivalry of sovereign imperial nations, and not, as war propagandawould have it, simply from a struggle of freedomagainst fascism. After the war, Isely took over the magazine Across Frontiersfrom World Federalist Gerry Krauseand proceeded to set in motion systematic, step by step plans for creating a world constitution. In 1950, he wrote a pamphlet entitled “The People Must Write the Peace” stating that the situation in the world was so dire that the people cannot wait for the moribund national governments to take the lead.

In the early 1950s, Iselyand others joined the Campaign for World Governmentat its Chicago offices, at that time under the direction of Mary Georgia Lloyd. By 1958 the basic concept of WCPA was founded. Key activists understood that the foremost need was to create a quality constitution for the Earth. Along with Thane Read, Guy Marchand, Marie Philips Scot, Margaret Isely, and others, a “World Committee for a World Constitutional Convention” was formed which, by 1961, established its headquarters in Denver, Colorado. The public call for a World Constitutional Conventionwas issued by the committee that same year with committed delegates from 50 countries and endorsements from several Heads of State.

By 1966 the decision was made to change the name of the World Committee for a World Constitutional Conventionto the World Constitution and Parliament Association(WCPA).Margaret and PhilipIselyhad been using the profits from their successful Denver-based business to travel widely, recruiting prominent persons to sponsor the developmentof a world constitution and prepare the call for a World Constitutional Convention. Among the recipients of PhilipIsely’s immense correspondence were Dr. T. P. Amerasingheof Sri Lankaand Dr. Reinhart Rugeof Mexico, both leading world federalistswho had independently arrived at similar conclusions. These activists eventually became Co-Presidents of WCPA and worked together for more than 40 years in this capacity, with PhilipIselyas Secretary-General and Margaret Iselyas Treasurer.

Two elements in this account stand out as reflective of Philip Isely’s character. The first is the fact that he chose to go to prison during the Second World War rather than collaborate with the imperialist powers in that insane struggle among murderous sovereign nation-states. He saw the lie of a “just war” of some imaginary good against evil and was willing to face prison rather than compromise his integrity. He understood that the system of sovereign nations was the root cause of the war and of all wars, and he lived his life ethically from this insight, refusing to compromise even to the point of going to prison.

The second element is represented by Philip’s early pamphlet “The People Must Write the Peace” reflecting his lifelong understanding that we cannot and should not wait for the nations of the world to wake up and create a decent world system. The system of sovereign nation-states is intrinsically a war system and a global disorder destructive of human welfare. If it is going to be done, the people must start the new world system themselves, here and now. This understanding that we cannot wait for the powers within the present world system to evolve toward a world of peace, justice, and environmental sustainability would later be at the heart of the WCPA and the movement behind the Earth Constitution.

I first learned of the existence of WCPA in 1995 when I read a full page ad that Philip Isely had purchased in the progressive publication In These Times. It contained excerpts from a document called the “Manifesto” of the Provisional World Parliament. (The document was passed the following year at the 4th session of the Parliament in Barcelona, Spain, which I attended.) Among other stipulations directed toward establishing a new world system, the Manifesto prohibited all military ships from sailing on the oceans of the world beyond territorial boundaries. When I read it I immediately called WCPA and told them I wanted to join them. I understood, what Philip Isely also clearly understood, that the present world order is illegitimate. We do not have to wait for the illegitimate order to make decisions on behalf of humanity (which is impossible), but we must take the initiative and do it ourselves. The oceans of the world belong to the people of Earth, and the murderous tools of warring sovereign nations, whether the US Navy, the Chinese Navy, or the Russian Navy, have no right and no business putting their evil engines of destruction onto our global commons. The people of Earth must take back possession of our planet and its global commons before the present system has laid waste to our entire planet and all of human life.

Philip was not only the central force behind the writing of the Earth Constitution (and one of the five primary authors of the Constitution), he was also the central force behind starting provisional world government under the authority of Article 19 of the Constitution. He understood that ideals are not worth much unless they are actualized and that the people of Earth must begin world government here and now before it is too late. Provisional world government primarily took the form of organizing sessions of the Provisional World Parliament and building through this a worldwide network of citizens committed to living and acting under the Earth Constitution and governing themselves independently of the illegitimate nation-states in which they happen to live.

Sessions of the Parliament took place under his direction in 1982 in Brighton, England, 1985 in New Delhi, India, 1987 in Miami Beach, Florida, 1996 in Barcelona, Spain, and 2000 on the island of Malta. The resolutions and world legislative acts passed by the sessions of Parliament since 1982 have built a legacy of sane and redeeming documents that lay the foundations for an alternative world system in its living reality. A number of these early documents, like the Manifesto mentioned above, were written and introduced by Philip Isely.

In my view, Philip Isely’s enduring and substantial legacy is at least three fold. His legacy is bequeathed to us first and foremost in the form of the Constitution for the Federation of Earth, the creation of which required four decades and involved an immense sacrifice of time, energy, money on the part of Philip and Margaret Isely. Secondly, Philip’s great legacy comes down to us through the actual initiation of world government under the Constitution giving the people of Earth the right to act in the form of the Provisional World Parliament and to immediately create all other aspects of provisional world government. People from around the world gathered at these early sessions of Parliament and ratified the transformative documents that Philip authored and introduced, many of which were also published in the journal Across Frontiers.

Third, Philip Isely bequeaths us the WCPA as a worldwide organization which, since 1958, has established the global foundations of the Earth Federation Movement. People everywhere, through WCPA and the Earth Federation Movement, are demanding immediate, nonviolent revolutionary change in the illegitimate world system. They are no longer patiently waiting for the slow death of so-called evolutionary change. “The world,” as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe proclaimed, “only goes forward because of those who oppose it.” I believe that someday historians will recognize Philip Isely as one of the truly great figures of 20th century history. His revolutionary opposition to the world has moved it forward to the creation of the most important document produced within that century—the Constitution for the Federation of Earth.

June 24, 2012

DO WE LIVE IN A DEMOCRACY?

(Editor's note: How often do mainstream newspapers raise the question of the need for democratic world federation? Almost never. But columnist Bob Hanson breaks this silence in a soon to be published column for the Rossmoor News, California.)

I strongly believe that if life as we know it is going to continue on earth, sooner, or later, hopefully sooner, we will have to adapt a democratic system of world federalism. Only then, will the world be able to end war and abolish nuclear weapons. The United Nations was a good move in that direction, but unfortunately the victors in World War II structured it to assure dominance for themselves through use of the Security Council veto.

There are at least four ways a world federalist system could be established. One being proposed is to form a World Community of Democratic Nations. The theory being that democratic countries don’t attack each other and that such an organization will encourage all nations to become democratic. A question that immediately comes up is “who will determine which countries are really democratic?”

Your immediate reaction will probably be that of course, the U.S.A. is. But I think maybe we aren’t as democratic as we like to think we are. We started out with only white male property owners being eligible to vote. Down through the years, others such as women and minorities won the vote, but now the Republican Party in many states is working hard to disenfranchise as many minority, poor and elderly citizens as possible by putting up roadblocks to voting.

We elect our president through an antiquated system called the “electoral college”, whereby the person with the most popular votes may not be elected.

We espouse “one person-one vote”, but a Senator from Alaska or North Dakota can be elected by a few hundred thousand voters, while it takes about 10 million votes to be elected Senator from California.

The U.S. Senate doesn’t go by majority rule. 40 percent of the members can impose their will on the others. The Democrats had a chance to change that in January by changing the rules the Senate operates under, but failed to do so.

Then, there is the question of money being considered free speech. It has been said that we have the best government money can buy! Our Supreme Court has ruled that because of the First Amendment, laws cannot be passed to limit the amount of money corporations and rich individuals can spend on elections. Would you run for Congress knowing that your opponent had ten million dollars to spend on negative advertising against you?

Many of our capable leaders get out of politics because they find they have to spend half of their time raising funds in order to be re-elected. The threats of an organization like the National Rifle Association pulling out all stops to keep one from even voting for a common-sense law like banning assault weapons, frightens many legislators from voting for what they know is right. Cast a vote for any piece of legislation that Netanyahu might not like and you will be political toast next election. We badly need public funding of political campaigns to take the money out of elections.

So, while the world badly needs a global system of enforceable laws in order to outlaw war, prosecute terrorists and deal with environmental problems which do not respect national boundaries, we also have a long way to go to be a respectably democratic nation. A good start will be to amend the constitution to clearly state that money isn’tspeech, and corporations are not entitled to the rights of people. If you agree that this is urgent, please send a check to MoveToAmend.org.

The UN Conference on Sustainable Development has theright ecological principle (sustainability), is doing a good job identifying global environmental issues via the UN Environment Program, but is fatally handicapped by the obsolete UN Charter which justifies national sovereignty no matter how dangerous it is to a healthy and safe planet earth.

Rio De Janeiro, according to a story today sent out by the Associated Press, is an environmental mess. Water is being polluted by inadequate waste facilities. The problem is sewage in this city in Brazil with its millions of people. A Brazilian biologist, Sandra Azevedo, is quoted as complaining that she works "right next to open, running sewage." "We work next to a massive toilet," she concludes.

Environmentalists from the world over know that Rio is just one of these environmental nightmares. Oceans, rivers, cities, and different types of land from forests to deserts are being polluted in one way or another. The bombing of Fallujah, Iraq left radioactive poisoning which will haunt generations, a result of the use of Depleted Uranium munitions (dirty bombs) by the United States.

The United States is but one example of the type of environmental crimes committed by nations, but are untouchable by any enforceable laws as they are immune due to having "national sovereignty" -- hence, cannot be stopped when they pollute.

Without the Earth Constitution, environmentalists must rely on the good will of the individual nation states and the multinational corporations which do much of the polluting. With the Earth Constitution replacing the UN Charter, then each nation would be part of a unified whole, and be held accountable under enforceable world laws.

Thus, for example, the threat of nuclear annihiliation of planet earth could be eliminated under the Earth Constitution because nations would no longer need their military forces, the advantage of having a unified world within the protection of a democratic world federal government. But will Earth Summit activists and national politicians grasp what is really needed? Probably not.

The current Rio Earth Summit is most likely to yield an excellent, but depressing list of ecological crisis points, lots and lots of promises by the nations to "do better" regarding environmental standards, but in the end not do enough, fast enough. This Earth Summit, like those conferences before it, will ultimately fail despite the good intentions of those activists and politicians trying to save planet earth.

What's the answer? Embracing the Earth Constitution and starting the process of creating a new politica world body, the Earth Federation. This strategy may well be the only viable method to save even the nations themselves from environmental disasters.

Moreover, only a democratic world federation can eliminate completely the danger of a nuclear Armageddon. The nations and peoples must federate, and they must unite using the first green constition ever written -- the Earth Constitution.

-- Editor

June 3, 2012 (revised from May 31, 2012)Can the Earth Constitution provide a model of government which can prevent dictatorships while reducing political conflicts and enhancing democracy?From Egypt to Libya to Mali, and beyond, uprisings have overthrown governments. They will need new constitutions of enlightened and thoughtful design in order to meet the needs and expectations of the citizenry.

When the World Constitution and Parliament Association took on the task of writing a world constitution, they sought input from world citizens from around the world reflecting different nations, religions, cultures, and ethnic backgrounds. The result was a constitution which was clear and convincing in its design.

WCPA's Earth Constitution (EC) was first of all a model for (1) democracy. Good government requires that people have a voice in their own governance. The revolutions in both Egypt and Libya were based upon people rejecting dictators, and demanding democracy.

Secondly, the EC's design seeks unification of the nations of the world by means of forming a federation. The nations were to (2) federate.

While federation creates a central governing structure, the EC provides for distribution of power by using the (3) principle of subsidiarity. The EC directs the government to decentralize power as much as is possible: Local problems to be solved at the local level; national problems at the national level; and global problems at the global level.

The directive to decentralize government with the Federation will enhance cooperation and goodwill between different tribal regions and cultures within any nation -- a feature which can reduce internal conflict in countries with strong ethnic or religious sects like in Egypt, Libya, andIraq. Earth Constitution's design is parliamentary, not presidentialAs troubled nations such as Egypt begin the task of writing new constitutions, they should note how the Earth Constitution rejects a design in which the country has a president. Instead, the EC's design is parliamentary, rather than presidential.

The President of the United States has gained the powers of an unchecked dictator by the simple means of declaring a (perpetual) war (on terror) -- using this excuse to give the President ongoing "emergency" powers -- in short, the powers of a dictator.

"World Executive" consists of a Presidium of 5 and Executive Cabinet of 25 The Earth Constitution has elections for parliament, not for president. This eliminates any chance of a dictator taking power. No need for people to panic over an election for a president as is now happening in Egypt. Many Egyptians are apprehensive. They dislike the two remaining candidates -- one from the previous Mubarak government which has been overthrown, and the other a member of the Muslim brotherhood with worry of a theocratic takeover.

From the Earth Constitution:The World Executive shall consist of a Presidium of five members, and an Executive Cabinet of from twenty to thirty members, all of whom shall be members of the World Parliament. Article 6.3.1 The Presidium shall be composed of five members, one to be designated as President and other four as Vice Presidents. Each member of the Presidium shall be from a different Continental Division. 6.3.2 The Presidency of the Presidium shall rotate each year... 6.3.3 The decisions of the Presidium shall be taken collectively, on the basis of majority decisions... 6.3.4 Each member of the Presidium shall be a member of the World Parliament... There are a number of troubled nations which may be writing new constitutions in the near future. The list includes Egypt, Libya, Mali, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and eventually, Syria. When new national constitutions are drafted, can they satisfy the different conflicting factions while maintaining democracy?

It is the contention of this analysis that if these troubled nations choose federation and democracy, the parliamentary instead of a presidential system, and the rotating leadership model of thePresidium as seen in the Earth Constitution, they will succeed.

A recommendation to Mali, and other unstable nationsRene Wadlow, a world citizen expert on national conflicts and their resolution, has recommended that the current rebellion in Mali be resolved by forming a federation. This is wise advice.

If Mali, and the other troubled nations, carefully study the full Earth Constitution, they may find the ideas needed to write customized national constitution's which reduce internal political conflicts, eliminate forever the danger of dictatorship, and all in all provide good government which is able to meet the needs of the people.

-- Editor

Rotate

Revised May 13, 2012 (from April 18)Quit kidding ourselves. The world must federate. A
constant stream of new conflicts from China to the
Arctic

In a recent Associated Press article (4-12-12) it was reported that the
Philippines had warned China that "the Philippines would defend itself if
provoked." Really? What's the problem? A territorial dispute over the South
China Seas, described by the AP story as a "dangerous confrontation."

The South China Sea area is believed to be "rich in oil and gas", and it
is also an area where Chinese and Filipino fisherman compete for fishing space.
The confrontations between the two nations has included "armed Filipino troops"
reported to have boarded a Chinese fishing vessel for an inspection.

Happily for the US military industrial complex, the Philippines has
recently acquired what is described as its "largest warship", the BRP Gregorio
del Pilar. This "warship" has been deployed to the South China Sea.

Can
the United Nations prevent these types of territorial disputes? Probably not,
particularly if the Chinese, with its veto power at the UN, refuse to accept
outside mediation.

Then there's the developing story which makes one
feel a deep chill. It's the race to the Arctic, thanks to global warming.
Nations are positioning themselves for access to the oil, or whatever else of
value might be found in these unfreezing waters. Nations attempting to secure
territory include Russia, the United States, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Denmark,
Sweden and others.

In a 4-17-12 AP report, we learn that the nations
gathered recently at a Canadian military base to discuss "regional security
issues." How will nations decide who gets what? Will the most powerful nations
edge out the weaker nations? Where will private corporations fit into the
picture? Will NATO find an excuse to provide military protection for American
and British oil companies?

The United Nations is too weak to step in and
mandate a fair sharing of the Arctic's wealth for the world at large, despite
the fact that the Arctic should be considered "world" territory.

These
types of conflicts and disputes at the global level are typical, and illustrate
the need for the world to federate. There must be world union.

The
Earth Federation would provide the Arctic territory with a guardian in the world
public interest. The UN will be unable to prevent its overly sovereign nations
from fighting each other over territory in the Arctic. The UN's Charter gives
too much independence to rogue states so that in the end, "might makes right."
Threats of war, or war will be the final arbiter over who gets the wealth of the
Arctic.

An Earth Federation government, thanks to its federal and
democratic Earth Constitution, would put the disputed Arctic territories in the
hands of the world community and the world public interest where it belongs.
Cooperation and sharing instead of competition and narrow national
self-interest.

-- Editor (Revised May 13, 2012)

May 6, 2012The majority of countries belonging to the United Nations have been restricted to second class citizenship.But the inequality and lack of democracy may be about to be challenged.

World federalist activists are calling for an Article 109 UN Charter Review Conference. Democratic World Federalists based out of San Francisco are in the process of preparing a new look website which will include Charter Review as a main "Path to World Federation."

Although recognizing that the Security Council could ultimately veto proposed changes to the UN Charter, it nevertheless is seen as opening the door to a full review of the Charter, and the possibility for an entirely new draft being presented as a careful examination of the Charter shows it is not democratic, and it is not federal in its basic structure. The Charter has also been criticized as it lacks the capacity for enforceable world law. Powerful countries ignore international laws at will, and their leaders are never prosecuted. They are above the Law.

Is it time to retire the aging UN Charter? Will the Earth Constitution be the foundation for an emerging new global political body (the Earth Federation)? An Earth Federation government based upon the Earth Constitution has the key characteristics (democracy, federal, enforceable world law) which are glaringly absent from the UN Charter rendering the UN ineffective and lacking political legitimacy.

-- Editor

April 18, 2012Quit kidding ourselves. The world must federate. A constant stream of new conflicts from China to the Arctic.

In a recent Associated Press article (4-12-12) it was reported that the Philippines had warned China that "the Philippines would defend itself if provoked." Really? What's the problem? A territorial dispute over the South China Seas, described by the AP story as a "dangerous confrontation."

The South China Sea area is believed to be "rich in oil and gas", and it is also an area where Chinese and Filipino fisherman compete for fishing space. The confrontations between the two nations has included "armed Filipino troops" reported to have boarded a Chinese fishing vessel for an inspection.

Happily for the US military industrial complex, the Philippines has recently acquired what is described as its "largest warship", the BRP Gregorio del Pilar. This "warship" has been deployed to the South China Sea.

Can the United Nations prevent these types of territorial disputes? Probably not, particularly if the Chinese, with its veto power at the UN, refuse to accept outside mediation.

Then there's the developing story which makes one feel a deep chill. It's the race to the Arctic, thanks to global warming. Nations are positioning themselves for access to the oil, or whatever else of value might be found in these unfreezing waters. Nations attempting to secure territory include Russia, the United States, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and others.

In a 4-17-12 AP report, we learn that the nations gathered recently at a Canadian military base last to discuss "regional security issues." How will nations decide who gets what? Will the most powerful nations edge out the weaker nations? Where will private corporations fit into the picture? Will NATO find an excuse to provide military protection for American and British oil companies?

The United Nations is too weak to step in and mandate a fair sharing of the Arctic's wealth for the world at large, despite the fact that the Arctic should be considered "world" territory.

These type of conflicts and disputes at the global level are a typical, and illustrates the need for the world to federate. There must be world union.

The Earth Federation would provide the Arctic territory with a guardian in the world public interest. The Arctic territory should be under the authority of the world public interest represented by an elected world parliament under the Earth Constitution.

-- Editor

March 28, 2012

Why Americans need the Earth Constitution

Editorial

Article 13.5 (Directive Principles for the Earth Federation) in the Earth Constitution states that people have a right to "Free and adequate public health services and medical care available to everyone throughout life under conditions of free choice."

Meanwhile, the United States Supreme Court muddles through a decision which will mean life or death for many unlucky citizens. This decision should be a no-brainer, but not in a society where the high priests of money privateer without remorse and insist that your right to life should include a profit center -- most likely for the 1%.

The US can spend over $600 billion a year for so-called national "defense"(another profit center for the 1%), but what good is "defense" if you can't afford to go to the doctor? One can die from a foreign attack (unlikely), or die from lack of adequate medical care (far more likely).

Americans don't even have a right to go to the dentist -- unless that is, you have plenty of money.

Is it time to think about what Jesus (or Muhammad or Buddha) would do if making the health care decision of potential life or death for millions of people?

OPINION - Editor

For previous OPINION commentaries and editorials explaining the benefits of federating in a world union under the Earth Constitution, continue to scroll down...

The United Nations system is unable to stop the killing in Syria, or to prevent Israel from repeated terrorist threats telling Iran they plan to attack. These are examples of state sponsored terrorism using violence or threats of violence in order to gain submission.

Syria's dictator, Bashar Assad, has used the full force of his military against his own people. Tanks, artillery, snipers, and secret police have targeted rebels and innocent civilians such as in the ongoing massacre against the city of Homs. Assad has refused to let the Red Cross in, and has kept the media out.

UN system unable to prevent terrorismThe UN has been rendered helpless to intervene in Syria because Russia and China have veto power in the UN Security Council. The UN faces a similar problem regarding Israel.

Israel continues to threaten Iran with an attack because it does not want Iran to have a nuke. Ironically, Israel itself is estimated to possess 200 (undeclared) nuclear weapons, and refuses to give them up! This double standard does not seem to bother Israel, or its ally, the United States.

Much like Russia and China with Syria, the US uses its veto power to prevent the UN from stepping in to end the terrorist tactics. (Israel's message to Iran: Do what we demand, or we will bomb you.) Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces almost daily Israel's intention to commit a unilateral attack against Iran sometime in the coming months.

Terrorism is more than physical aggressionImagine the trauma Netanyahu's pronouncements cause for families in Iran having their children hear that their country is going to be bombed. Many of these children may remember Israel's massacre of civilians in Gaza, or the shock and awe invasion by the United States of Iraq which destroyed the country and became a nightmare for Iraqi families.

For such families and their children, Israel's threats are a clear form of psychological terrorism. Earth Federation under the Earth Constitution superior to UN system to prevent terrorismThe Earth Constitution joins nations in a world union in a form of "federal sovereignty" rather than absolute sovereignty. A federal structure has levels of governance -- local, national, and global. When the national level of governance breaks down, the global government is there to resolve the issues so that war is avoided.

The world's citizenry also have basic inalienable rights. If a national leader violates these rights, the Federation will step in to hold that leader accountable for any criminal actions. (In Syria a dictator is the problem, hence the Federation would need to protect the citizenry from such a rogue leader.)

Whereas the UN requires each nation to militarize, the Earth Federation is a fully nonmilitary structure. Nations would no longer go to war, they would go to court, or they could potentially go to the World Parliament for a resolution of differences.

In a world union, war would be unnecessary and obsoleteThe Earth Constitution has provisions which provide peaceful means to resolve conflicts. War or incitement to war would be illegal. Moreover, in a world union such as the Earth Federation, war to resolve conflicts would be unnecessary and obsolete. In the Earth Federation, no one is above the lawThe Earth Federation's judiciary system with its world law could not be ignored as is now the case with the UN system of international law -- which continues to leave leaders of powerful nations above the law.

Under the Earth Federation, the people of Syria would have been immediately protected. An arrest warrant would go out for the dictator Assad. If he failed to turn himself in to the authorities, the world police could seek him out. The Federation would not attack the whole country, but rather isolate him out as an individual, and arrest him for trial.

In a similar fashion, Mr. Netanyahu would potentially be arraigned for authorizing terrorist tactics against another nation. He could be held criminally responsible for inciting violence against another country.

In both these sample cases under the Earth Federation, the defendants would have a right to due process.

Editor's note: (It should be noted that US citizens no longer have the right to "due process of the law." US citizens can now be detained indefinitely without trial. This would be a case where the Earth Federation would need to intervene as all citizens have certain inalienable rights according to the Earth Constitution.)

February 23, 2012

Less Government or Good Government?

An AP story by Jenny Barchfield (2/2/12 SF Chronicle) describes how Rio De Janeiro is "crumbling" over the last year while Rio tries to get ready for the Olympics.

A professor of urban planning, Christopher Gaffney, is quoted as explaining "...The problem is the management of the city. It's a totally unregulated system, which leads to problems such as the exploding manholes, derailing streetcars, and collapsing buildings." Editor's commentary: Rio's unregulated system is an example of how "less government" hurts the public. Barchfield concludes that such an unregulated system is a "recipe for disaster."

We can apply "unregulated" to the nation-state global system. Somalia is an example of "unregulated" and "less government" -- and Somalia is an ongoing disaster for its citizens. Moreover, the constant wars on the global stage show the negative consequence of the absence of government at the world level.

We already see how the lack of appropriate regulation of financial institutions (that is, "less government") has caused a worldwide economic catastrophe. Good government is what is needed, not less government.

For the Earth Federation, good government means protecting its citizenry from "less government" particularly when "less" is code language for "lack of regulation", wherein such lack of oversight causes harm to the public.

February 21, 2012Darkness of Empire: A devastating critique by Professor Glen Martin of the domination over people and the fragmented nations by use of military force and a rigged, debt-based economic system

"The American Empire and the Struggle for Human Liberation" recently published by Dr. Glen Martin is a powerful indictment of the present world's struggle with Empire and its endless thirst for more and more power, and domination of nations and peoples.

Martin describes how Empire "...endeavors to extend its tentacles, becoming ever more irrational and dangerous, while the peoples of Earth long for freedom, survival, and a new beginning. The Empire's secret plan? Martin agrees with Noam Chomsky who saw the U.S. after WWII as the remaining superpower which proceeded to establish "military and economic hegemony that could be used by transnational investors to maximize profits through exploiting the cheap resources and labor of subject peoples."

The rigged economic system has prevailed, writes Martin, "...with their system of debt-money making all governments beholden to them and placing the peoples of Earth into massive debt, an entirely unnecessary system of totalitarian control..." Martin cites author Ellen Brown in his analysis of how the world's money system works against the majority of people.

While Establishment pundits on the Left and the Right shy away from the need for world union and world government, Martin argues convincingly that the "fragmented world disorder of some 192 militarized 'sovereign' nation-states" is the very structure which allows Empire to dominate --they can "divide and conquer."

What could be the answer to end the darkness of Empire? "The answer is simple, clear, and compelling," writes Martin. "Human liberation requires that we join together under a democratic Constitution for the Federation of Earth that protects the freedom and diversity of peoples everywhere."

Regarding the Earth Federation Movement, Martin states: "We do not want to eliminate the variety of nations, cultures, religions, languages, and perspectives of the world. Such diversity is wonderful and gives rise to thousands of beautiful ways of authentic human flourishing. But the absolute, militarized borders, and the ability of the World Bank and the IMF to force the economic conditions of empire onto isolated countries, cannot endure. These are the very building blocks of empire."

Martin's conclusion is one of hope yet with a warning: "The human spirit will prevail: the spirit of freedom, reason, diversity, compassion, and solidarity. But we are in a race against time, since the empire is intent on closing the doors of freedom on the Earth forever."

His conclusion: "We need to embrace together the Earth Constitution, and by doing so bring humankind to the next step in planetary consciousness and human civilization. We must all join together in the name of planetary democracy, and establish a common framework for free human flourishing for all persons. Only in this way can we abolish the empire, and the threat of empire, forever from the Earth."

-- for Dr. Martin's full article ("The American Empire and the Struggle for Liberation") go to

The headlines these days make it clear that the conflict between Israel and Iran may move beyond economic sanctions against Iran. Israel has stated it may attack Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that any attack would be met with retaliation.

Without federal world government in place, an attack and invasion may soon be in the making creating a nightmare for thousands upon thousands of innocent citizens particularly in Iran, but also possibly in Israel if the conflict spills over to the broader Middle East.

Ayatollah Khamenei is quoted as saying that "...any attack would be 10 times worse for the interests of the United States." The US has provided Israel with money and weapons, and Congress under the influence of the Israeli Lobby has voiced full support for Israel's threats against Iran if the Iranian government refuses to bow to Israeli demands to cease their nuclear program.

Israel has nuclear weapons. What's wrong with this picture?

A world federal government would analyze the conflict from the point of view of the world public interest rather than narrow national self-interest.

The (World) Federation would likely note that Israel maintains almost 200 nuclear weapons. Iran has none. Israel fears that eventually Iran will obtain nukes.

Under a World Federal Government neither nation would need, or be allowed to possess weapons of mass destruction since under world union there would be no need for such horrible weapons.

Much like California does not need nuclear missiles to protect itself from Texas, as part of a world federal union Israel would not need these terrible weapons to protect itself from Iran, or any other nation. Similarly, Iran would have no need to seek nukes for their defense.

In a democratic world federation there would be nonviolent alternatives to war. Both parties would take their dispute to mediators for resolution, and if that fails they could turn to a World Court (such as the World Court's Bench for International Conflicts in the Earth Constitution), or as another avenue, could take the dispute to a democratically elected World Parliament.

The global democratic Federal government described here makes going to war unnecessary, and indeed, illegal.

When war becomes a world crime

Under a well-written world constitution, war becomes against the law. Nuclear weapons also becomes against the law. But under this new global governing structure, laws would be enforceable, not mere empty words as is currently the case.

Any national leaders or generals who went to war, or maintained nuclear weapons would be treated as common criminals, and would be held individually accountable. World police would arrest them, and they would be prosecuted for world crimes.

State sponsored terrorism considered a world crime

War crime prosecutions in an Israel/Iran war could include leaders of the United States for providing weapons and money to Israel. Such support could be consider state sponsored terrorism. If evidence was provided that covert operations were also employed causing death or destruction such as in false flag operations, the operatives and those who ordered such actions could be considered world criminals and be prosecuted accordingly.

United Nations not equipped to deal with the Iranian/Israeli conflict

Because of the rule of sovereignty for each nation is written in the UN Charter, the UN has no authority to prevent either Iran or Israel from going to war, or even for possessing nuclear weapons.

If the US is involved, the UN's hands are completely tied because the US has the power of the veto in the UN -- an ultimate means to avoid prosecution for world crimes.

In the present conflict it appears that the US is an ally of Israel, and Iran may have China or Russia on its side. Because of the undemocratic powers of these powerful nations, they go unrestrained on the global stage. Their veto power in the UN Security Council can prevent any action which might prevent war.

Will war soon be the outcome? Will thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians, families, women and children become war victims as occurred in the invasion of Iraq? Another avoidable catastrophe simply because the nations refuse to unite and to federate?

January 16, 2012A recent book, Vultures' Picnic by investigative reporter Greg Palast, is an important source to understand the deep financial corruption seen worldwide

From finance, to oil, to nuclear power, Palast digs below the surface to reveal the manipulations and world crimes which benefit a sociopathic few while harming ordinary, decent people who make up the majority.

Mr. Palast, who is unfamiliar with the Earth Federation Movement, would most likely applaud the Earth Constitution's world judiciary structure which includes provisions for enforceable law at the international level. No longer would the powerful be "above the law" and often escape prosecution for fraud, cover-ups, and dirty financial dealings. A Swiss bank account anyone?

The EC provides a potentially powerful tool for honest investigators such as Mr. Palast who are often frustrated when crimes and injustices uncovered on the world stage go unpunished.

-- Editor

January 9, 2012

Can a Democratic World Federation Government Include Dictatorships?(Discussion from the Internet)

Dear fellow world federalists:

WCPA's Constitution for the Federation of Earth (aka "Earth Constitution") has worked out the details for a World Parliament in a rather simple, yet elegant manner.

The Earth Federation's World Parliament is to include both a House of Peoples, and a House of Nations.

The House of Peoples, similar to the US House of Representatives, is to consist of 1000 Electoral Districts based upon population (to represent the 7 billion people worldwide). The late Dr. Hanna Newcombe devised a brilliant outline of potential electoral districts for the House of Peoples. These proposed electoral districts should prove relatively easy to update to account for subsequent population shifts.

The House of Nations outlined in the Earth Constitution allows up to 3 delegates per nation or group of nations, depending upon a simple formula taking into account population of each nation or group of nations. Large nations like China or India will be allowed 3 delegates maximum in the House of Nations.

Regarding the issue of a nation being democratic or not, the Earth Constitution's Bill of Rights is such that any nation ratifying the Constitution (thereby joining the Earth Federation) will be committed to democratic standards, per the Earth Constitution.

There will undoubtedly be debates about what constitutes fair and authentic democratic processes as each nation has its own notion of "democracy". Political democracy? Economic democracy? The role of money, the role of media, and so on.

Because a world federal government is so necessary if we are to eliminate weapons of mass destruction, prevent wars, end poverty worldwide, and protect individual human rights, it is my faith and belief that the glitches and obstacles can be overcome.

As Dr. Roger Kotila correctly points out, the Earth Constitution provides a framework for the inclusion of all nations into an Earth Federation that allows both for “full faith and credit” of their existing documents and legal systems (Article 14) and for the progressive transformation of what is undemocratic in their systems to conformity with the Earth Constitution. For example, it is not until the second operative stage in the actualization process of the Earth Federation (under Article 17) that nations are required to enter into the process of systematically and carefully disarming. Since all military organization is anti-democratic and destructive of universal human rights (because military action by definition dispenses with due process of law), no military can be part of a democratic Earth Federation. However, the Constitution allows for a measured conversion process to take place that does not confront dictatorships or oligarchies (like the US and Britain, for example) with an all or nothing choice.

Indeed, one of the truly extraordinary things about the Constitution is that, while standing on fundamental principles of global democracy and universal human rights (hence, ultimately not allowing dictatorships to be part of the Earth Federation), it provides a variety of mechanisms for moving from the current dysfunctional and undemocratic world to a world guided by these fundamental principles. The key is not an either/or attitude but reasonable mechanisms for conversion. One of these mechanisms is the Provisional World Parliament.

Right now, we are working on legislation to be introduced at the next session of the Parliament (Session 13), that specifies in detail a conversion process for dictatorships wishing to join the Earth Federation. This conversion process provides flexibility (they do not have to immediately throw out their current legal structures or ruling class) but requires that they enter into a process under which they can initially join the federation and begin receiving its immense financial and other benefits through agreeing to a carefully defined series of conversion stages that will ultimately lead to full conformity with the Earth Constitution.

This is the real issue. Not whether or not dictatorships can become part of an emerging Earth Federation, but the concrete and practical issue of a measured process by which nations begin to transform their structures over time into conformity with the requirements of universal democracy and human rights. The process holds out the incentive of the immense benefits of being part of the Earth Federation while not excluding non-democratic nations, but working with not only rulers and dictators, but also with their peoples directly, to undergo a reasonable, nonviolent process of transformation necessary to bring the nations of Earth together under a single Democratic Constitution.

Do the leaders of Israel and the U.S. risk prosecution by the International Criminal Court for a war crime if they invade Iran? The answer is "no". The leaders of Empire are, in practice, above international law.

This fact is very clear as evidenced by the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. The "shock and awe" destruction of Iraq for example, based upon false evidence, did not lead to prosecution by any international court of those responsible such as former President George Bush, Jr., Vice President Cheney, or the Pentagon generals. No prosecution for war crimes, no prosecution for torture.

The leaders of Israel have never been prosecuted for the brutal attacks on Gaza, or for the ongoing illegal expansion of Israeli settlements upon Palestinian lands.

Unfortunately for the world, when justice is unevenly administered, the imbalance creates resentment among peoples and nations. This fundamental unfairness becomes a breeding ground for more conflict and wars.

Iran is being told that they cannot have a nuclear weapon, yet Israel is allowed to possess, by some estimates, as many as one hundred nuclear warheads. The U.S. has refused to give up its nuclear weapons, as have other nuclear states including Russia, China, Great Britain, France, Pakistan, and North Korea.

The Earth Constitution, unlike the United Nations Charter, would establish enforceable world law applied to all. No individual, no matter how powerful his/her nation, would be above the law. Justice would be administered fairly to all.

Rather than war, conflicts would be adjudicated by a World Judiciary system, mediators, and a democratic World Parliament based upon the world public interest, not narrow national interest or superpower status. Under the Earth Constitution, no nation is allowed to possess weapons of mass destruction. A psychological analysis of the dynamics of disarmament makes it clear that only disarmament by all nations will create acceptable conditions for a permanent and secure peace.

Realistically therefore, to avoid an Armageddon type catastrophe, all nations possessing weapons of mass destruction must give them up. Without full cooperation from all nations, the psychology of paranoia will continue and nations will refuse to disarm.

-- Editor

December 9, 2011A Grand Strategy: From Occupy Wall Street to Occupy Everything. Will Activists See the Strategic Advantage of Adopting the Earth Constitution?

The Occupy Wall Street nonviolent protest movement has expanded almost everywhere -- from city to city, and to college campuses. We watch similar protests continue and grow in Europe, Egypt, Syria, and beyond.

Something is in the air -- the people want change. What psychologist C.G. Jung called the "collective unconscious" appears to have caused a simultaneous reaction worldwide -- a peaceful protest movement demanding fundamental changes in the governing system. The corruption of governments by Big Money must cease.

Time for a new governing system and world union

Enter the Earth Constitution drafted over a period of thirty years by world citizens from many countries organized by the World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA). The Earth Constitution has become the foundation for an emerging Earth Federation Movement (EFM) calling for a democratic world union, and a new governing system.

The real question about this new governing system is not about big government, it is about good or bad government. Good government meets the needs of "we, the people" and is fair and just. The Earth Federation's Constitution is designed to meet these important standards, and much more.

The Earth Constitution, as just one example, replaces the current global war system with a peace system. If offers a realistic paradigm to eliminate all nuclear weapons. This fact alone should cause activists to embrace the EFM.

But it offers more. Think of the goal to "Occupy Everything." Because international private investment banking and multinational corporations literally and figuratively "buy" countries, this world constitution is designed to put a stop to these manipulations by Big Money. Individual nations are no match for Big Money or secret covert operations to overthrow them if they do not cooperate.

WCPA activists will be in India during the sessions of the International Conference of Chief Justices. WCPA will hold meetings to discuss strategies to further the cause of establishing the Earth Federation with its Provisional World Parliament under the Earth Constitution.

New world judiciary system part of Earth Constitution

Earth Federation activists hope to establish a "Collegium of World Judges" to support the Earth Constitution's structure for a World Judiciary system designed equal to the task for honest and fair, and enforceable world law and order.

Thus, for example, no longer would high government officials be able to avoid prosecution for their world crimes. Multinational corporations and international banking interests would no longer be able to be the "shot-callers" as to a nation's economic structure. High executives from business would be held accountable as individuals -- no longer above the law.

Bringing private international banking interests back to earth

Regarding banking, a concern of Occupy Wall Street, the 1% would no longer be able to hide their money in Switzerland -- or in other off shore secret bank accounts.

Private banking would no longer be allowed to control currency and credit. The global financial apparatus would be returned to "we, the people," with ownership and regulation by a democratically elected Earth Federation government.

Establishing universal standards for civilized societies

The Earth Constitution provides a blueprint for a new governing system which returns democratic processes to "we, the people." Its Bill of Rights for the Citizens of Earth (Articles 12 and 13) sets universal standards for civilized societies.

Articles 12 and 13 as well as other provisions in the Earth Constitution can provide authoritative legitimacy to the demands of the Occupy protesters who call themselves the "99%".

A modern Magna Carta for the people?

For the Occupy Everything protest movement, the Earth Constitution could function like a modern day Magna Carta. (In 1215 the English barons forced King John to agree to the rights and privileges which came to be known as the Magna Carta.)

The 99% are demanding that the 1% not only pay up, but give the government back to "we, the people." This is unlikely to happen despite worldwide protests except on a token level -- unless activists turn to the EarthConstitution.

The EFM has tried to warn activists that simply trying to "fix America" is inadequate. The system as a whole must also be changed.

The belief that if we can only "fix America" then everything will be alright is a mistake we made after stopping the Viet Nam war.

Now however, the peace movement is back. Will it be "flower power" again but failing to look more deeply into what's wrong? (One lesson learned out of the Sixties peace movement is that "love" is not enough.) More fundamental changes are necessary.

We must acknowledge "deep politics" and pursue the ugly truths such as the many "false flag operations" conducted by governments in secret. Covert agencies killing people but blaming it on someone else. Its a method of manipulation unknown to the general public used to create false "enemies." What's the purpose to create false "enemies"? To keep the people in fear and paranoia -- thereby easy to manipulate.

The Earth Federation government will not tolerate secret death squads or other forms of attacks on the innocent. The Earth Federation will stand for openness, authentic democracy, and integrity.

Students join the peaceful rebellion

What started out as a campaign to gain regulation over Big Money (i.e., Occupy Wall Street) has branched out as activists show that the unlimited spending on America's military is creating growing poverty at home.

Students, frustrated over the increasing costs of education, are in rebellion. They have to pay more because the country's money is going to the military/industrial complex rather than to education. America is a military economy. Weapons first, sold worldwide. Taxpayers pay unthinkable sums of money for death and destruction, while student tuition continues to rise.

Money flows easily for bombs, guns, nuclear weapons, covert operations to assassinate and destroy, and for Homeland Insecurity. The country provides expensive toys-for-boys such as fighter jets, ships loaded with technical gear, and drone missiles to kill by simply pushing a button.

Meanwhile, on the home front, people are losing their homes and can barely feed their families. There is massive unemployment. Education has become too expensive except for the 1%.

A political strategy to establish "legitimate authority" for protester's demands

A closer look at Articles 12 and 13 of the Earth Constitution shows how its provisions can give legitimate authority to the Occupy Wall Street protest movement expanded to a worldwide "Occupy Everything."

Article 12.3 Freedom of speech, press, communication 12.4 Freedom of assembly, peaceful demonstration 12.12 Freedom of person from arbitrary or unreasonable arrest, detention, search or seizure; warrants required. 12.13 Prohibition against...torture 12.14 Right of habeas corpus 12.18 ...prohibition against surveillance as a means of political control

Article 13.1 Equal opportunity for useful employment foreveryone 13.4 Free and adequate public education available to everyone. 13.5 Free and adequate public health services and medical care available to everyone throughout life 13.11 Assurance for everyone of adequate housing,...food,... 13.13 Social Security for everyone to relieve the hazards of unemployment, sickness, old age, disability,

family circumstances, catastrophe....

The Earth Constitution as the key "game" changer

It remains to be seen if Occupy Wall Street activists will grasp the implications of turning to the Earth Constitution as the key strategy to save America itself, and to deliver the world from its downward spiral.

The Earth Constitution is a system changer -- a basic "game" changer. It could become the foundation for a worldwide, peaceful political and economic revolution. It could provide the means for "we, the people" to regain control over Big Money, multinational corporations, and corrupt governments.

Making the impossible, possible

The Earth Constitutionwaits to be discovered, a gift to the world which could make what some think is impossible, possible:

A path to eliminating wars and weapons of mass destruction. Prosperity rather than poverty. Fair and equal justice for all. Protection of Mother Earth. Genuine good government with authentic as opposed to fake, democracy.

To be sure, any governing system will have its doubters, and its glitches. But the Earth Constitution is surprisingly wise, and that is why it could have a very good chance to deliver as promised.

-- Editor

July 31, 2011 Radioactive Poisoning

Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions have been used by the US military in

Afghanistan and Iraq, with birth defects now showing up in Fallujah and elsewhere according to a report by Kelly Vlahos in "The American Conservative" (April 2011).

American soldiers, along with civilian populations, have also been

exposed to these cancer causing munitions. Like with Agent Orange

during the Viet Nam war, the military authorities are denying that DU

munitions endanger our soldiers or civilians.

Has the Pentagon and NATO also used dirty bombs in Libya?

Will the International Criminal Court be authorized to investigate those

Pentagon and NATO generals who authorize DU use? Will they be held

accountable for crimes against humanity?

EDITOR'S NOTE:

No, they won't be prosecuted by the ICC as its jurisdiction and enforcement capabilities are severely restricted. Some powerful nations have refused to accept jurisdiction. They reject the Universal Bill of Rights for themselves. They maintain special privilege to be above the laws which others are expected to follow.

May 20, 2011

Privatization of Medical Care Could Make Going to the Doctor a Privilege, Not a Right

The recent proposal by the US House of Representatives to privatize Medicare by means of a voucher system could lead to health care being more of a privilege of the rich, rather than a right for all.

Moreover, privatization would add a new level of expense as money which should go for health care is siphoned off to go to CEO's and stockholders of private insurance companies.

It is this writer's understanding that the administrative costs of government run Medicare is less than 10%, while the same costs in a privatized system could run as high as 30%.

People with limited incomes could face the prospect of insurance premiums beyond their budget once their voucher allowance was used up, and be haunted by unknown amounts of co-pays and payment restrictions.

Let's keep it simple: The Earth Constitution states that health care is a right (not a privilege). Most European countries meet this standard of world citizenship, but the USA does not.

The Earth Constitution in Article 13.5 (Bill of Rights for the Citizens of Earth - Directive Principles): "It shall be the aim of the World Government to secure certain other rights..."Free and adequate public health services and medical care available to everyone throughout life under conditions of free choice."

The USA does not currently meet world citizenship standards although the Medicare system as it is presently structured is popular, and a step in the right direction. Ultimately the USA will most likely develop a mixed system of public and private health care with a sliding fee type of system where no one will ever go bankrupt due to illness, and no one will be denied medical care due to lack of money.

(Editor's note: "Medical care" also means access to both dental care and mental health services. The average American cannot afford dental care.)

-- Editor

April 30, 2011Advantages of Using the Earth Constitution as a Model for Nations in Transition Who Seek Authentic Democracy

As nations such as Egypt, Tunisia and others experience the transition to new governments, they will likely seek to modify their existing constitutions to find ways to insure democratic processes and to prevent future tyranny by special interests such as Big Money, corrupt Superpower governments, or religious extremists.

The Earth Constitution, although written with the whole world in mind, might provide a wealth of ideas and principles which would help these changing nations guarantee authentic democracy. Better yet, the Earth Constitution's design might be helpful as a means to give all the different factions in a nation a voice.

Moreover, the Earth Constitution, since it is a parliamentarian system as opposed to a presidential or dictatorship system, offers a design which eliminates dictatorial powers by any single individual. The "Presidium" in the Earth Constitution consists of five members of Parliament who rotate each year as the Chairperson. No person or special interest can seize power.

There are numerous other features or principles in the Earth Constitution which a nation may wish to copy in their national constitution: The Bill of Rights, green principles for ecological sustainability, and decentralization (subsidiarity).

To be sure, the Earth Constitution will not be a perfect fit for any specific nation, but it does provide a design which offers a type of governing structure which can unite, and which provides practical wisdom into the governing process.

The ?Democratic Spring? of 2011 expresses what people around the world have felt for along time. In nation after nation both nonviolent and armed resistance to dictatorship andtyranny has erupted. This rebellion is significant and indicative of the sentiment of people?sworldwide. The World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA) has chapters in manycountries around the world from which people are demanding democracy, not only forthemselves, but for the people of Earth.

Much of the uprising in this democratic springtime has taken place in the Arab nations ofTunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, and elsewhere. There was even incipientresistance in Saudi Arabia, where massive force was used to prevent its overt appearance.i Iwas in Bangladesh in December 2010, where people are struggling against fundamentalistreligious and military forces to preserve their democracy that was established in 1971. In Indiaas well, as Vandana Shiva has eloquently described in her book Earth Democracy, the strugglefor democracy is vibrant and widespread.

A similar upsurge has even taken place in the United States and Great Britain where massesof people in both nations have come out in demonstrations, civil disobedience, and other formsof resistance against the ruling class attempt to break the unions, cut fundamental socialservices, and solidify corporate domination over the political process.ii Many articles haveappeared in the alternative press in these countries detailing the facts of the vast accumulationof wealth in the hands of the rich that has continued even after the crash of 2008, as well as thesteps taken by politicians representing corporate domination to further that wealth and reducethe opportunities of ordinary people.iii

The democratic revolution erupting this spring, however, will not succeed under thecurrent world system, which is heavily stacked against democracy and the welfare of the peopleof Earth. This world system has two major components that work together to ensure the rule ofa tiny fraction of the Earth?s population over the rest of us. It works, in other words, to ensurethat democracy does not work and cannot work. These two interrelated components areglobal corporate capitalism and the global system of ?sovereign? nation?states. In this system,the elites in government and the elites in business work hand in hand to make laws andregulations benefiting corporate wealth?accumulation through laws benefiting corporateinterests including privatization programs, security arrangements protecting corporations,interest and rent payments, access to cheap resources, and access to cheap, exploitable labor. iv

This global system is protected by the world?s imperial hegemon, the United States, with730 known military bases in all corners of the world and significant economic and politicalleverage over nearly every nation on Earth.v This system ensures the accumulation of privateTwealth in the hands of the banks and large corporations (including the ruling class within theUS) through a balkanization of the world?s peoples into easily manageable nation?statecomponents. Sometimes the Pentagon and US espionage systems are taken by surprise ashappened recently in Tunisia, where largely nonviolent massive protests rapidly toppled a USsupported dictator early in 2011 and served as a catalyst for the ?Democratic Springtime?throughout much of the Arab?speaking world, giving the people of Tunisia at least some hopeof creating for themselves an effective constitutional democracy.

A largely nonviolent revolution soon followed in Egypt resulting in the deposition ofanother US supported dictator, with the Egyptian army refusing the dictator?s orders to fireupon the protestors. However, forward movement toward democracy in Egypt remains stalledsince the army has assumed control of the country, an option for ?governing? regularlysupported by the US since its ascendency to hegemony after the Second World War.vi The UShas now swung into action to help suppress the spread of democracy in the Arab world. It hasmade an agreement with Saudi Arabia not to interfere with Saudi military invasion of Bahrian toprotect the autocratic government there and has remained silent as governments in Yemen andother Arab countries fire upon unarmed protestors to stifle democratic dissent.vii

The current nation?state system allows political trouble in one part of the world to bequarantined and eradicated by the global hegemon and its imperial lackies (Britain, France,etc.). If international manipulation of the victim country fails to succeed (bribes, economicthreats, etc.), then hegemonic interests will be protected by overt force. Direct invasion andcolonial control (as in Iraq and Afghanistan), once accomplished, may result in withdrawal andinstallation of neo?colonial puppet dictators who use political surveillance and torture toprevent outbreaks of democracy and other such rebellions against the poverty, marginalization,and misery of the masses.viii The principle on non?interference in the internal affairs ofsovereign states applies in general to all nations except the imperial superpower, whichroutinely attempts to influence elections, fund right wing media, bribe officials, and use allmeans of pressure to keep its global empire in conformity with the needs of corporateinvestors.

When the imperial interests of the former colonial powers dictate military intervention inthe internal affairs of sovereign nations, then the principle of non?interference is quicklyjettisoned, as in the case of Libya after the democratic springtime spread to that country. Thedictator in Libya was not a puppet of the imperial powers but a vocal critic of Westernhypocrisy. In addition, he had control of significant oil resources not directly in the hands of themultinational oil cartels. For both these reasons, he had to go. Suddenly, ?humanitarianintervention? was the theme of the day, and a UN agreement to a simple no?fly zone wasinterpreted by the US, Britain, and France as near unlimited discretion to militarily support therebels against the forces of the official Libyan government. Again, the balkanization of theworld into particulate nation?states allowed the imperial forces to ensure domination of aportion of the world?s people in the service of their ?national interests.? There is no doubt,however, that democracy will not be allowed to triumph in Libya.

The balkanization of the people of Earth into nation?state compartments is essential to themaintenance of the world capitalist system and the US Empire. World citizens who wish to freehuman beings to become self?determining participants in ?one world democracy? often do notrealize the extent to which the balkanized system of sovereign nation?states must necessarilybe preserved by the global ruling class.ix Many world federalist organizations support thedemocratization of the UN, for example, and the democratic spring of 2011 has enlivened themto push, in the name of the aspirations of the people of Earth, for a World Parliament to directlyrepresent people within the UN organization to complement the existing General Assembly(that represents only governments).x

The present world system, however, is promoted and protected by the UN organization,which largely mirrors the world system as described above. The UN Charter recognizes the?sovereign integrity of its member states? (Article 2) and places all effective power in the handsof the Security Council, dominated by its five permanent members, all of whom haveaspirations to global power and, at the very least, regional hegemony. In addition, the entireUN system has long been colonized by global capitalism so, for example, GATT (the GeneralAgreement on Treaties and Trade) has been transformed into the adamantly ?free trade? WorldTrade Organization (WTO). The principle of ?national sovereignty? means that nations may ormay not sign treaties, that they have no compelling reason to comply with treaties they havesigned, and that they may even sign treaties (so called international laws) while exemptingthemselves from compliance (as the US has repeatedly done).

The UN allows the global superpower almost free rein to use UN ?international laws? in itsown interest, and, when these do not serve its interests, ignore them, as it did with theinvasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Many world federalists correctly perceive that the UN has anextensive worldwide infrastructure that could be very useful to global democracy, but they failto realize that piecemeal reform of the UN system will not result in global democracy. Theimperial dominators hold all the cards that will certainly be used to block effectiveness ofreform, including the effectiveness of a global people?s assembly that might be created tocomplement the nearly powerless General Assembly.

The World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA) does not share the apparentnaivet? of many world federalist organizations regarding the world system represented in theUN. The WCPA understands that piecemeal reforms of the UN system cannot be successful inthe face of the forces ranged against global democracy (at least not in time to preventplanetary ecocide or nuclear omnicide). The WCPA has long supported, however, an Article 109Review Conference in which the nations in the General Assembly vote to reexamine the UNsystem.In an Article 109 review conference, the UN would have the option to replace the UNCharter (representing the current undemocratic world system) with the Constitution for theFederation of Earth (representing true global democracy: www.worldproblems.net). The EarthConstitution provides for a truly democratic tri?cameral legislature with the authority, andsupporting institutions, to pass enforceable world laws for the people of Earth.

A ReviewConference that ratified the Earth Constitution would be an optimum result for the people ofEarth. The General Assembly could easily become the core of the House of Nations, the globalvoting mechanisms that are currently set up by organizations like Vote World Parliament andthe People?s Congress could elect the representatives to the House of Peoples, and thepresently functioning Provisional World Parliament could become the core of the House ofCounselors.

By the simple act of substituting the UN Charter for the Earth Constitution, moreover, theUN High Commission of Human Rights could become the core of the World Ombudsmuscreated by the Constitution, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) could become benches of the World Supreme Court system, the WTO could beconverted to the democratically run World Financial Administration, and UN Peacekeepingforces could be converted into the civilian World Police. Moreover, the transformation wouldbe decisive. It would not become a mere cosmetic modification of the current world system ofdomination and exploitation. For the Constitution creates genuine world democracy withenforceable world law, with the power and mandate to require multinational banking andcorporations to serve the needs of the people of Earth, and with the power to disarm thenations and bring them into conformity with the democratic rule of law.

The Provisional World Parliament has already taken other steps to promote thisintegration. For example, the Education Act (WLA 26) allocates major funding to a number ofU.N. agencies that promote education in the world as soon as these agencies ratify the EarthConstitution. It names the following agencies for allocations: U.N. Development Programme(UNDP), U.N. Children?s Fund (UNICEF), U.N. University (UNU), International Research andTraining Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), U.N. Institute for Training andResearch (UNITAR), and U.N. University for Peace (UPAZ). Unlike the U.N., the Earth Federationgovernment will not be dependent on the voluntary donations of sovereign nation?states butwill have entirely sufficient funds to serve all human needs, including massive worldwideeducational development.xi

However, even though the WCPA fully supports a UN General Review Conference thatwould open up the possibilities outlined here, it is likely that the global hegemon will veto anyattempt to make this happen. In our judgment, it is very likely that the people of Earth willhave to directly ratify the Earth Constitution independently of the UN system, attracting thosenation?states to their cause who realize that they have nothing to lose and everything to gainthrough joining the Earth Federation under the Constitution for the Federation of Earth. Thedemocratic springtime of 2011 offers a taste of the hopes and dreams entertained by thepeople of Earth.

But these hopes and dreams can only be realized through the founding of a new socialcontract for the Earth. The UN is not a social contract but a treaty of sovereign nationscolonized by the world?s hegemon. It is not likely that it can be modified to become a genuinedemocracy. There will be subversion and resistance every step of the way. But ratifying a newfounding document (that cannot be altered or compromised prior to its ratification) offers atremendous hope to the people of Earth. There is great strength in placing our hopes in afounded global social contract.

Perpetual compromise with the forces of global capital and imperialism is unnecessaryhere. The people of Earth can rise up and shout ?enough!? They can found at new worldsystem predicated on equality, freedom, peace, prosperity, and justice from the very start.Only such a founded Earth Constitution can really transform the present undemocratic worldsystem. Reforming the UN is ultimately not a significantly viable option. Democratic freedomfor the people of Earth demands a global social contract in the form of transparent, completeddocument: the Constitution for the Federation of Earth.

Glen T. Martin is Professor of Philosophy at Radford University, Virginia, USA, Secretary-General of the World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA), and President of theInstitute on World Problems (IOWP). His web site is www.radford.edu/gmartin.

April 19, 2011

Excerpts from a letter sent by Earth Fed activist Kevin Edds who explains what is wrong with the current global system and why it is dangerous:

The current mass-destruction of our Planet by "sovereign" nations, that are controlled by corporations or "special interest" groups, is supposedly "legal". With 192 "sovereign" countries doing whatever they want, including attacking and devastating other smaller or more peaceful countries, worldwide chaos and lawlessness is our current "system".

No country is bound by any "higher" law than their own "self interest", however wicked or evil that "self interest" might be. Numerous countries feel they have a "right" to do anything they want, including killing the whole world with a nuclear bomb attack or a "mistake" in a single day if "necessary" (causing a nuclear reaction or retaliation by other countries that produces a nuclear winter on our Planet). The slower method of killing our Planet with accumulated irresponsible ecological transgressions and needless environmental catastrophes and "accidents" is also "right" or "legal" according to our current "system".

Mr. Edds recently published "Save Earth with Earth Federation" which can be found at www.LuLu.com

We, the undersigned, are proud of the people of Egypt for their successful peaceful protests and demonstrations against corruption and authoritarian rule, and for justice and democracy.

We salute your courage, intelligence, and compassion -- and your perseverance and humanity. You are a model for the entire world and, hopefully, a bold step toward a world of peace and justice for all.

Some of us in the United States are also working for peace and justice through organizations and ideas such as Democratic World Federalists, Earth Federation Movement, World Citizens, World Constitution and Parliament Association, United for Peace and Justice, and many others.

We are also working against corporate monarchy, corruption, and authoritarian rule here in the United States and worldwide. We do honor you for your successful and peaceful fight for truth, justice, and democracy.

In Peace with Justice,

Mary Harris, USA

Roger Kotila*, USABob Hanson, USA

Shahriar Sharei, USA

Bob Neumann, USA

Glen Martin, USA

Esther Franklin, USA

Rob Wheeler, USA

*Phone contact: (415) 328-2341

February 14, 2011Signs that the Republican Party has become the Dinosaur Party

WELCOME TO THE DINOSAUR PARTY! But dinosaurs eventually became extinct. The Republican Party on almost every level supports policies which increase the possibilities of extinction -- both for the Republican Party itself, and literally, for Americans, and for the world.

To be fair, Republicans care about their immediate family, and some of their friends. However, they show little respect for the human family -- the global community. Because of their narrow worldview, Republican ideas are like taking a poison pill wherein one either dies slowly (poverty), or quickly (nuclear war).

The Dinosaur Party has a love affair with nuclear bombs and missiles. Wars are exciting and profitable to the dinosaurs. The 9/11 attack during the Republican administration of George W. Bush was a convenient excuse to go to war and to give the President dictatorial powers.

The Pentagon's "shock and awe" attack on Iraq was an example of state sponsored terrorism, and an indicator of the ruthless recklessness of the oligarchy which has captured America. Likewise the use by the military of depleted uranium ammunition which has exposed both our soldiers and its civilian victims to radioactive poisons.

There is growing suspicion that 9/11 was an "inside job" as claimed by an increasing number of experts. Why else has the government refused to allow a new independent investigation despite overwhelming evidence that the 9/11 Commission Report was a cover-up directed by Republican neocon's? Why did President Bush and Vice President Cheney refuse to testify under oath?

Indifference to the poor is another basic core value for the dinosaurs. Republicans see no real value in poor people except for cheap labor.

Hatred and fear toward those who favor socialism are basic characteristics of the dinosaurs, who claim to be "Christians" yet have policies toward the poor which are the opposite of what Jesus practiced and taught.

But such contempt for the poor has made enemies, not friends. For example, many South American nations, through free and fair elections, have rejected American values of predatory capitalism and the domination of the rich over the poor, and are eager and enthusiastic about a mixed economic model (as in Scandinavian countries) which includes ample socialism and careful regulation of capitalism.

The Republican Party has only contempt for socialism, despite the fact that by all indicators of health, mortality, and security -- it is superior to predatory, monopoly capitalism. The years of propaganda to fool the people about capitalism's supposed "superiority" are ringing on empty as America's middle class discovers it has been betrayed. If elections are not rigged (as they were for President Bush's election), Republican will come to mean "Dinosaur". Ignoring climate change in favor of profit, a key value of Republicans, is another prescription for extinction. But that does not bother the dinosaurs whose thirst for money trumps scientific warnings of weather extremes due to man made environmental pollution.

Forever trying to be clever, the Republicans pushed for nuclear power as a means to a "clean"environment, but ignored the warnings of the antinuclear activists. Now we see in Japan that nuclear power is a profound loser and extremely dangerous to the people. So once again, the Republicans accepted bad ideas which could lead to extinction.

Love of money is the dinosaur's basic moral and intellectual flaw, along with a refusal to have empathy for others except for one's privileged friends and family. Put simply, Republicans almost universally have very poor judgment and endanger the rest of us. Fortunately, oligarchy is going out of favor. Look at the uprising in Egypt.

The increasing frustrations that the dinosaurs are placing upon the middle classes will eventually lead to revolts like in Egypt. The dinosaurs refuse to raise taxes on the rich, preferring to starve America's less fortunate, and to spend taxpayer money on bombs, missiles, and war rather than on food, clothing, shelter, and health care.

The Republicans are more than willing to spend unlimited amounts of taxpayer money on the Pentagon for death and destruction rather than on the people for health care and education. This policy enriches the already corporate rich. It also increases the probability for ultimate death and destruction of the human family.

But sadism and greed, as Hitler discovered, eventually leads to downfall.

Revenge acts by wronged groups or nations who are victims of CIA covert operations (assassinations; overthrowing democracies) will continue to be a danger within the USA itself if the dinosaurs are not replaced by advanced progressives.

Unfortunately, Democratic President Obama has continued the authoritarian policies of George Bush, Jr. while he and Secretary of State Clinton piously talk of "freedom and democracy" for Egypt. And in all fairness, it must be said that many Democrats, too, have become dinosaurs in their thinking and actions -- only different from Republicans in name only.

It must be said that many Democrats joined Republicans to establish Homeland InSecurity and the UnPatriotic Act. Democrats, like Republicans, have voted for ridiculous amounts of money for the military and for the black box budget.

Yet far more Democrats than Republicans genuinely care about "we, the people" and support good and caring government rather than the conservatives very dangerous plan to "starve government" -- a prescription good for the rich, but disastrous for the rest of us.

The Obama adminstration has joined the dinosaurs by increased spending on new, "advanced" weaponry and on nuclear weapons which will increase the chances of a "mistake." Worship of the Pentagon is flirting with catastrophe. Death and destruction (drone attacks, bombing, etc.) on innocents around the world who are described as "collateral damage" are killing America's soul, or what is left of it.

Prediction: Ruthlessness toward the weak and poor, and now the attacks on the middle classes, will backfire. Predatory acts ("privateering") such as attempts to privatize Social Security, eliminate unions, and continue the deep corruption in Wall Street will be met by growing resistance from America's middle classes.

The real question now is if the Dinosaur Party can be prevented from taking the rest of us down with them?

-- Editor

January 13, 2011

WILL HOLLYWOOD BEGIN TO TAKE NOTICE OF THE EARTH FEDERATION MOVEMENT IN 2011?

The present writer speculates that Hollywood's imagination can be touched by the visionary work of the Earth Federation Movement. For starters, its green world constitution (the Earth Constitution) should appeal to Hollywood progressives who have worked hard for the environmental movement, and who appreciate and respect fresh air, clean water, and green mountains.

A serious strategy to end war and eliminate weapons of mass destruction using the Earth Constitution as its foundation is the stuff that captures the imagination -- a valued commodity in Hollywood.

Who in Hollywood will be the first to get on the Earth Federation Movement bandwagon? Prediction: The music business will be the first on board. Why?

Wars are ugly and are now dragging down the economy. People seek escape and hope. The time is ripe, much as in the sixties, to "rebel" from the dreary and hopeless Establishment's strangulation of American liberties, a secure life, and happiness.

-- Editor

November 23, 2010

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF WORLD PEACE: ONLY A FEDERATED DEMOCRATIC WORLD UNION IS REALISTIC Roger Kotila, Ph.D.

Recently a world federalist sent out an impressive list of United Nations treaties and conventions in various stages of consideration or acceptance by nations.

The list includes the New Start Treaty (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), and conventions to ban cluster munitions and land mines. Also there are UN conventions against torture (1987), conventions on the rights of children (1990) and the disabled (2008), and other important agreements.

Treaties are a mixed blessing

When nations sign treaties which relate to global issues, it gives us a false sense of security. Nevertheless, by addressing issues such as nuclear weapons and the like, nations are acknowledging problems of universal concern and importance despite differences in culture and tradition.

We can reasonably conclude, then, that there are areas of ethics and conduct which the majority of people worldwide accept as valid -- universal standards to be applied to all.

Unfortunately however, history shows that agreements based upon treaties are eventually broken or ignored. Time and time again, particularly with the more powerful, treaties are discarded when seen as inconvenient -- either with regard to national self-interest, private business interests, or religious dogmas.

Psychology of world peace and institutionalized paranoia

So where does the "Psychology of World Peace" enter this picture, and what does psychology have to do with treaties, conventions, and other agreements between nations?The key psychological dynamic associated with national sovereignty in a world of nations is one of institutionalizedparanoia. Greed is another factor which needs to be taken into account.

To understand the psychological dynamic of paranoia (and greed), one only needs to examine prison gangs. Like nations, they are sovereign, and like nations, gangs fear that the other side is seeking an advantage. Hence, even when prison authorities do a complete, clean sweep of weapons, within weeks the various gangs are rearming themselves.

Why? Paranoia. This is the psychiatric dynamic which the current global system of sovereign nations cannot overcome. It is an inherent response to the system of national sovereignty in a world flooded with a winner take all, survival of the fittest mentality.

Institutionalized paranoia between nations originates primarily from fear that the other will get the upper hand in terms of use of force or military might, and fear that the other will gain economic advantage and control.

In the current global system of treaty-based agreements, usually nations maintain a high degree of sovereignty. This fact means that nations cannot be prevented from violating treaties if they believe it is in their self-interest to do so. The lack of true union between nations causes them, weak or strong, to conduct secret operations which further fuels paranoia.

The European Union has made some progress convincing nations to give up some aspects of absolute sovereignty. But some of these nations continue to be quite reluctant (i.e., paranoid) about moving toward full union and federation.

It can be argued that partial union is better than no union at all. This idea has some merit. However, the ultimate psychological dynamic to achieve a genuine, permanent world peace free of war will require an almost complete world federation and democratic union with only minor exceptions.

This is a hard psychological fact from which there is no shortcut. Institutionalized paranoia will never be cured no matter how many treaties are signed by sovereign nation states. Every nation, whether or not fully in the federation, will have to agree to open inspections at anytime, anywhere.

President Ronald Reagan's famous quote regarding disarmament "trust but verify,"was partially correct, but incomplete. Because of the many sociopathic leaders in governments, there must also be criminal consequences to individual leaders who violate the law.

Otherwise there is no guarantee of open inspection, investigation, and prosecution. In the present global system, individual leaders from nations who violate treaties and commit international crimes usually suffer no consequences, particularly if their nation is powerful. They are protected by their "sovereign" nation.

But in a federal union system world laws by a democratic world parliament would be enforceable on all individuals no matter what their level of authority. This rule of law is necessary because whereas people with a normal, healthy conscience will do the right thing without threat of punishment, those leaders of nations who are sociopaths or psychopaths must be restrained by knowing they will face punishment if they commit crimes.

It is wishful thinking to believe that treaties or agreements alone can result in permanent full disarmament of weapons of mass destruction, prevent wars, or eliminate predatory economic behaviors. The psychiatric dynamic of paranoia (and greed), just like with prison gangs, will eventually sabotage any treaty-based agreements between sovereign nations.

Treaties are not strong enough medicine

Those who argue for a treaty-based global system to obtain world peace, justice and prosperity are stuck in Establishment thinking. There exist powerful psychological factors associated with traditional sovereignty which simply cannot be ignored.

Put bluntly, there is no shortcut except to establish a democratic federation and world union -- just as world federalists have been saying for over sixty years.

The psychology of world peace demands a new global structure which can eliminate the mental illness of paranoia, and the sociopathic condition of greed. The medicine needed to eliminate theses homicidal/suicidal symptoms has been known by world federalists for many, many years.

The nations must federate in a democratic world union.

Good medicine for a mentally ill world and a means to control sociopaths

The Earth Constitution/Earth Federation, not treaties, is the right medicine to end the paranoia, and to create a healthy and positive world -- free of the tyranny of fear, greed, lies, and dogma.

A federated democratic world union under the Earth Constitution has the potential to end paranoia, and the Earth Federation's World Parliament and Judicial/Human Rights system will provide a means to control the handful of sociopaths and psychopaths who destroy and impoverish our world.

By joining the Earth Federation, nations will no longer need to tolerate the second class citizenship imposed upon them by the design of the UN Security Council which makes a mockery of democracy and of equality.

It is time for the United Nations, whose sovereign nations breed a constant dynamic of paranoia, to break free from this psychiatric dysfunction. With the healthy foundation of the Earth Constitution to start anew, the world can free itself from the undemocratic roots which were incorporated into the UN Charter, and begin an era where "we, the people" has real meaning.

The Earth Federation's Constitution can open the door to a world that works for all humanity, not just the few.

-- Roger Kotila, Ph.D.

November 1, 2010The United Nations 65th Anniversary celebration in San Francisco (October 22 -24, 2010) offered a generous portion of good feelings toward world unity and understanding to honor the signing of the UN Charter on October 24, 1945 in San Francisco.

Events included a "Symphony for United Nations" conducted by Maestro Joseph Eger well-known for his artistic support of the UN; an inter-generational model UN session; a film festival on international issues; and some cultural performances with participants from other countries.

Although organizers of the events were successful in created a positive and constructive atmosphere, they did not shy away from discussing serious world problems. Speakers discussed worldwide poverty, sickness and diseases such as AIDS, human rights, wars and the urgent need for disarmament of weapons of mass destruction.

The prescriptions offered for solving these problems, however, tended to remain in the same United Nations paradigm emphasizing millennium goals which have been largely unsuccessful. Wars, threats of nuclear annihilation, worldwide poverty, and loss of individual human rights continue to be epidemic.

Lip service was made for the need to "strengthen the UN" and a call was put out to "rejuvenate the nuclear disarmament movement". A Stanford University professor, Dr. Hellman, presented the facts on the risks of nuclear catastrophe --and left this observer more determined than ever to demand full nuclear disarmament the world over.

Proposed solutions by invited speakers, however, tended to remain "inside the box" regarding changes to the United Nations and the present global system. Proposed solutions relied upon treaties and international law within the present UN structure rather than a new democratic world body able to apply enforceable world laws on individuals and with a democratically elected world parliament.

There was some minor mention of the need for a "UN Peoples Assembly" to go along with the UN General Assembly, but no strong message to eliminate the Security Council with its undemocratic veto power, and no advocacy to replace or change the UN into a genuine democratic world federation which is what is ultimately needed -- the sooner the better.

The event drew together many people of goodwill, and reinforced the importance of a world body in which to discuss world problems and possible solutions. For me, the main importance of this event was that it reinforced goals which have moral and spiritual significance, and continues to maintain faith in the potential for good from our global community.

-- RK

August 1, 2010

WILL BIG OIL AND OTHER CORPORATIONS CASH IN WHILE THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER PAYS FIRST FOR A COMBAT MISSION, NOW FOR AN ONGOING OCCUPATION OF IRAQ?

Today the American president announced an end to the "combat mission" in Iraq. He does not discuss any plan to have an ongoing occupation using a mixture of American soldiers (now doing "training", not "combat"), and private contractors (mercenaries) to be stationed in permanent armed bases in Iraq, ready to strike if the puppet government's security forces flounder as the Iraqi people reject this arrangement.

The plan? It is my belief that the American taxpayer will get to pay for "security" while Big Oil (multinationals)& other corporations make lucrative deals for Iraqi oil and/or infrastructure projects, protected by the might of the American military, new police/military security via the State Dept., and highly paid private contractors replacing the "combat" troops along with those Iraqi's willing to join the security forces for a puppet government.

Otherwise, why an almost 1 billion dollar American embassy in Iraq, bigger than the Vatican according to various reports? It's a fortress, and the Americans along with the puppet government will be behind walls while Iraqi death/torture squads roam the land targeting dissidents. Moreover, although President Obama has stated America would not have a permanent presence in Iraq, the facts on the ground include numerous American military bases costing millions of dollars, and construction has apparently not abated.

War and occupation appears good for Big Business. Prediction: Big Oil and other corporations (e.g., Halliburton) will not pay for this protection, or the costs of maintaining a puppet government in which Iraqi officials will have ample opportunity to get rich right along with their corporate benefactors. (It will be the ordinary Iraqi citizen who will lose out.)

Another prediction: A similar fate awaits Afghanistan as Big Oil seeks a pipeline through that country. It will also require an ongoing occupation of the country coupled with a puppet government to fight off the rebellious people who reject such suppression. The American taxpayer will pay for the mixture of American soldiers and private contractors who will stay in Afghanistan (just like in Iraq) to insure a cooperating puppet government.

The Earth Federation would not accept the stealing of resources by use of military might by any nation and the use of propaganda (false information) to keep the people in fear and paranoia.

The 9/11 attack caused immense trauma and was supposedly an attack by Muslims, a pretext for the current wars. Unfortunately, the actual scientific evidence suggests otherwise -- yet the American government refuses a new investigation. If the Earth Federation were in full existence, it could do an independent investigation particularly when a nation is suspected of a cover-up. (The evidence presented by 9/11 Truth researchers points to an inside job, a highly sophisticated false flag operation which has led the American people into a "war that never ends, i.e., the war on terror.)

Speculation: There are likely to be additional "false flag operations" which falsely blame new attacks (possibly again on American soil), on "patsies" -- who "confess" their crimes after unbearable torture. These terror tactics will justify continued excessive budgets for the military/industrial complex and Homeland Security, as Americans give in to manufactured paranoia and fear.

Although American soldiers and the public are told that these wars are to bring "democracy and freedom" to whatever country is being "liberated," and to "protect" America from terrorists, the facts point in a different direction: The American government, largely dominated by corporate and banking interests, want governments who cooperate with predatory capitalism and its first cousin, privatization.

(Editor's note: KBR is one of the obvious beneficiaries of these financial arrangements having been granted large contracts for oil infrastructure work. The original oil contracts drawn up earlier in the conquest under Bremmer which locked up deals for 30 years, are being challenged by some Iraqi's who believe the deals cheat the Iraqi people. Oil deals I have learned recently, are not just for American and British oil giants, but also are being given to some other countries such as China and India. Is the Iraqi Oil Ministry getting appropriate contracts for their people, or are corrupt deals being created which redirects the profits to a handful of Iraqi officials in power in collusion with the oil companies?)

8/28/10

MEXICAN ACTIVISTS MAY JOIN THE EARTH FEDERATION MOVEMENT

Communications between the Earth Federation and activists in Mexico have started since it was learned that student and political activists in Mexico are planning a "First Model World Parliament" to be held in the actual House of Deputies of the Mexican government.

The original connection originated from a meeting with Democratic World Federalists in San Francisco who, in association with the World Alliance to Transform the United Nations, began planning meetings in San Francisco perhaps in October, 2010.

The political importance of this network of strategy discussions is that we see American, Mexican, and possibly activists from Central and South America joining together -- with a strong student involvement.

Earth Federation activists believe that the Earth Constitution is the ideal instrument which will allow the creation of a true, as opposed to a toothless, world parliament.

There are activists who would like to simply have an elected world parliament which offers resolutions in terms of solutions, rather than create a genuine new world body (new world government) to replace the present shadow world government which analysts have noted are unelected, wealthy and powerful in military might and in political corruption.

-- RK 8/28/10

* * * * * * *

Received 6/21/10 from Gary Shepherd

Gary Shepherd's analysis is a good history lesson for proponents of democratic world government. The public and politicians may resist, and even resent, logical solutions to our world's problems -- even when the old ways have been convincingly shown to be wrong, and in current times, disastrous. -- Editor

PTOLEMY, COPERNICUS AND WORLD GOVERNMENT

By Gary Shepherd

May - June 2010 issue of United World magazinegshepher@verizon.net

Long before the advent of the current public arguments aboutevolution and global warming, the greatest controversy in the history ofscience was the debate between the geocentric, or earth-centered model of theuniverse described by the second century Greek astronomer Ptolemy, and theheliocentric, or sun-centered model, advocated by the 16th century Polishastronomer Copernicus.

This battle took most of a century to resolve, and it involved someof the most powerful political and religious leaders of its time. Today, wehave forgotten just what a mental revolution Copernicus' theory represented.Although some Greek philosophers had speculated about a heliocentric model, thePtolemaic model had been almost universally accepted by astronomers for morethan a thousand years. In fact, Copernicus knew that his idea was so radicalthat he didn't even have it published until after he had safely died.

It is easy to see why. The idea that the Earth is at the center ofthe universe, and that the sun, moon, planets and stars revolve around itmatches our everyday experience. After all, the Earth appears immobile beneathour feet -- it doesn't seem to move. When we look up at the sky, the heavenlybodies seem to be moving around us. Even today, we speak of the sun rising orsetting, as if it were the sun circling around the Earth.

What is more, the geocentric model could be used to explain all thescientific observations that could be made at that time. Because it had beennoticed that sometimes the planets seemed to stop and go backwards in theirorbits for a while, Ptolemy created smaller circles, called epicycles, withinthe larger crystalline spheres in which the planets circled around the Earth,so that they were sometimes moving in the opposite direction from the largercircle. Using this model, one could calculate precisely where a planet would beat any particular time -- an important consideration at the time, since mostastronomers were also astrologers, and knowledge of the locations of theplanets at the time of a person's birth was vital to casting horoscopes.

But as time went on, and observations became more precise, theability of the Ptolemaic model to predict planetary locations began to breakdown. The model was altered by later scientists, making it more and morecomplex, in an effort to make it correspond to observations of the realuniverse. In fact, the Ptolemaic model became so complex, that some scientists,in order calculate planetary movements, used the Copernican model formathematical purposes, even though they didn't really believe it described theactual universe.

Eventually, partly because of the invention of the telescope, theCopernican model achieved acceptance over its rival, and today one would havedifficulty finding an astronomer anywhere who supported the geocentricuniverse.

What, one is tempted to ask, has any of this to do with the idea ofworld government? Well, the parallels are quite striking. The current system ofindependent nation-states, sometimes called the Westphalian system, has existedfor many centuries as the unquestioned model for the way the political world isdesigned. Like the Ptolemaic model, it makes sense to us. The nations appear toexist, they appear to be eternal, and there doesn't appear to be any logicalalternative to it. They match our everyday experience. We speak of the earth,and humanity, as if they were both divided up into nation-states.

Like the Ptolemaic model, as time has passed the nation-state modelhas had to grow more and more complex to match the real world. Treaties,conventions, and agreements have piled up, one upon the other, to govern thecomplicated relations between the different nations. For instance, the DanubeRiver runs through numerous different nations on its way to the sea. All of thenational governments have a say in governing the preservation of that river,making it very difficult to come to agreement about anything. The currentsystem has become so complex that sometimes, in order to make it functionproperly, people act as if the world were united, even though they don't reallybelieve it is.

Just as it was the advance of technology and science led to moreprecise measurements that doomed the Ptolemaic model to extinction, advancedtechnology is leading toward measurements that are threatening the viability ofthe nation-state system. We have peered down at the earth's surface from ourorbital satellites and have seen that there are no borders drawn on the realearth. We have peered into the intricacies of the human genome, and we havefound no genes for nationality.

Copernicus offered a model that was truer to the real world, andthus eventually supplanted the older, more inaccurate model. So too must weoffer a model of society that is truer to the real world, which is moreaccurate, more sustainable, and simply works better, so that it can replace theoutdated one. One day, the idea of separate nation-states will come to seem asquaint and antiquated as the perfect crystalline spheres that were a feature ofthe Ptolemaic system.

5/24/10

MODERN MODERATE MUSLIM MAN OPPOSES USE OF THREATS OR VIOLENCE TO CENSOR RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION AND FREE SPEECH

A Portland, Oregon Muslim man in a recent article (in USA Today, May 13, 2010) opposesuse of threats and violence by some Muslims who have murdered, or threatened to murder, those who have used the image of Mohammed in ways for which they did not approve.

Mr. Harris Zafar is highly critical of Muslim violence used to censor free speech and states that "...Islam does not support people who violently censor free speech. The Quran guarantees freedom of speech..." Mr. Zafar goes on to cite examples from the Quran and from the life of Mohammed himself which support nonviolence.

Importantly, Mr. Zafar also condemns State sponsored blasphemy laws such as used in Saudi Arabia (apostasy potentially punishable by death), Pakistan, and Afghanistan which also may invoke prison or a death sentence.

These majority Muslim states, according to the article, suppress other religious faiths and beliefs using blasphemy laws to silence or imprison religious minorities, journalists, academicians, and dissenters.

[Use of threats or violence to prevent free speech or practice of religion violates the Earth Constitution's Bill of Human Rights.]

Attempts to censor or silence critics is not limited to extremist Muslims. Jewish Zionists in the USA go to great lengths to silence criticism of Israel but use different tactics such as applying pressure to put a newspaper out of business.

Much like Saudi Arabia gives Muslims special rights, Israel does the same for its Jewish population. In both cases, citizens of other religions are second class citizens in terms of legal rights. [Unequal treatment of citizens violates the Human Rights section of the Earth Constitution.]

There is a somewhat different but parallel issue in the United States wherein Jewish Zionists try to silence criticism of Israel's criminal actions against the Palestinians. These Jewish extremists, unlike Muslim zealots, may allow public criticism of their God (Yahweh or Jehova), but they do not allow a full public discussion of Israel's expansionistic aggression against Palestinians and have "unelected" American politicians who dared defy the Israeli Lobby.

Last but not least, we must keep in mind a large group of fundamentalist Christians who (subconsciously) are actually hoping to have Armageddon (the ultimate in violence) to prove that their interpretation of Biblical scripture is "true." These extremist Christians support and encourage Israeli expansionism in the belief that once Israel has conquered all of the so-called "Promised Land" for Jews, then Biblical conditions are fulfilled for Armageddon to occur. Jesus will return while they, the faithful, will "rapture" up to heaven.

Armageddon, with its implication of widespread death and destruction, is not a particularly wholesome or loving value. Jesus, these extremists seem to fail to see, is the Prince of Peace -- not the Prince of Death and Destruction. If Jesus were here now, he would without question condemn any Armageddon scenario -- Jesus, in this writer's opinion, would not approve of the suffering of so many innocent people, such as our children, and would go into action to prevent such a horrible event.

-- Editor

4/30/10

"EQUAL LAND FOR EQUAL PEOPLE" OFFERS A STANDARD BY WHICH TO JUDGE PROPOSED SOLUTIONS BETWEEN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL

Alan Barnett, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor (San Jose State University in California, USA), a peace and social justice activist, has proposed that the path to a fair and peaceful settlement between Israel and Palestine should use the standard of "Equal Land for Equal People."

This principle of equality is in keeping with the standards and inherent basic rights as stated in the Earth Federation's Constitution. It would provide an objective that treats both the Jews and Palestinians (including Christians and Muslims) with integrity and respect.

Dr. Barnett notes that at the present time Israel has 78% of the Holy Land while Palestine has only 22%, despite the fact that when one counts the actual number of Jews and Palestinians in the region (including the Palestinian refugees driven out of Israel and in refugee camps), both have a population of roughly 6 to 8 million people. Hence his notion of "Equal Land for Equal People".

Barnett points out that, under the (international) rule of "right of return" the Palestinians would need more land than they presently have in order to accommodate the many refugees who want to return to their former homes (before being forced out year after year by the Israeli's).

The advantage of "Equal Land for Equal People" according to Dr. Barnett is that "The security of the Israelis depends on the Palestinians feeling that they are being dealt with fairly."

"Peace is only possible if both Israelis and Palestinians are treated as equals," writes Barnett.

Editor's note - "Equal land for equal people" is a potentially important guideline available for mediators in establishing a lasting and productive peace between Israel and Palestine. It is consistent with the Earth Constitution. Every human being is inherently, by birth, a "citizen of Earth" with all of the rights granted in Articles 12 and 13 (Bill of Rights for the Citizens of Earth, and Directive Principles).

3/27/10 MOVEMENT OF BUNKER BUSTER BOMBS BY THE US AIR FORCE SUGGESTS POSSIBLE ATTACK PLANS AGAINST IRAN. ANALYST PREDICTS A "STAGED TERRORIST" ATTACK WILL BE USED FOR JUSTIFICATION.

Analyst Paul Craig Roberts reports that a Scottish newspaper, The Herald Scotland, has reported that "bombs are being assembled for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities." It is claimed by the newspaper that "bunker-buster bombs are being moved to an Air Force base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. One London analyst, Dan Piesch, is quoted as saying, "They are gearing up totally for the destruction of Iran."

The analysts speculate to what sounds like another "shock and awe" type of devastation as was used against Iraq, with the Western media claiming the attack is for "freedom and democracy" but the real intent will be to establish a puppet government.

A false flag operation followed by a military attack and invasion would be a violation of international law. (Many investigators believe that 9/11 was a false flag operation used as a pretext for war.) Would Israel and the USA act jointly?

If Iran is attacked under false pretense, would high government officials be held accountable by the International Criminal Court for war crimes? Even if Israel alone led the attack, could President Obama or Pentagon generals be tried for an international crime of aiding and abetting?

According to news reports, the U.S. military is shipping "bunker-buster" bombs to the U.S. Air Force base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The Herald Scotland reports that experts say the bombs are being assembled for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

The newspaper quotes Dan Piesch, director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of London: "They are gearing up totally for the destruction of Iran."

The next step will be a staged "terrorist attack," a "false flag" operation as per Operation Northwoods, for which Iran will be blamed. As Iran and its leadership have already been demonized, the "false flag" attack will suffice to obtain US and European public support for bombing Iran. The bombing will include more than the nuclear facilities and will continue until the Iranians agree to regime change and the installation of a puppet government. The corrupt American media will present the new puppet as "freedom and democracy."

If the past is a guide, Americans will fall for the deception. In the February issue of the American Behavioral Scientist, a scholarly journal, Professor Lance DeHaven-Smith writes that state crimes against democracy (SCAD) involve government officials, often in combination with private interests, that engage in covert activities in order to implement an agenda. Examples include McCarthyism or the fabrication of evidence of communist infiltration, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution based on false claims of President Johnson and Pentagon chief McNamara that North Vietnam attacked a U.S. naval vessel, the burglary of the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist in order to discredit Ellsberg (the Pentagon Papers) as "disturbed," and the falsified "intelligence" that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in order to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

There are many other examples. I have always regarded the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City as a SCAD. Allegedly, a disturbed Tim McVeigh used a fertilizer bomb in a truck parked outside the building. More likely, McVeigh was a patsy, whose fertilizer bomb was a cover for explosives planted inside the building.

A number of experts dismissed the possibility of McVeigh's bomb producing such structural damage. For example, General Benton K. Partin, who was in charge of U.S. Air Force munitions design and testing, produced a thick report on the Murrah building bombing which concluded that the building blew up from the inside out. Gen. Partin concluded that "the pattern of damage would have been technically impossible without supplementary demolition charges at some of the reinforced concrete bases inside the building, a standard demolition technique. For a simplistic blast truck bomb, of the size and composition reported, to be able to reach out on the order of 60 feet and collapse a reinforced column base the size of column A7 is beyond credulity."Gen. Partin dismissed the official report as "a massive cover-up of immense proportions."

Of course, the general's unquestionable expertise had no bearing on the outcome. One reason is that his and other expert voices were drowned out by media pumping the official story. Another reason is that public beliefs in a democracy run counter to suspicion of government as a terrorist agent. Professor Laurie Manwell of the University of Guelph says that "false flag" operations have the advantage over truth: "research shows that people are far less willing to examine information that disputes, rather than confirms, their beliefs." Professor Steven Hoffman agrees: "Our data shows substantial support for a cognitive theory known as 'motivated reasoning,' which suggests that rather than search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief, people actually seek out information that confirms what they already believe. In fact, for the most part people completely ignore contrary information." Even when hard evidence turns up, it can be discredited as a "conspiracy theory."

All that is necessary for success of "false flag" or "black ops" events is for the government to have its story ready and to have a reliable and compliant media. Once an official story is in place, thought and investigation are precluded. Any formal inquiry that is convened serves to buttress the already provided explanation.

An explanation ready-at-hand is almost a give-away that an incident is a "black ops" event. Notice how quickly the U.S. government, allegedly so totally deceived by al Qaida, provided the explanation for 9/11. When President Kennedy was assassinated, the government produced the culprit immediately. The alleged culprit was conveniently shot inside a jail by a civilian before he could be questioned. But the official story was ready, and it held.

Professors Manwell and Hoffman's research resonates with me. I remember reading in my graduate studies that the Czarist secret police set off bombs in order to create excuses to arrest their targets. My inclination was to dismiss the accounts as anti-Czarist propaganda by pro-communist historians. It was only later when Robert Conquest confirmed to me that this was indeed the practice of the Czarist secret police that the scales fell from my eyes.

Former CIA official Philip Giraldi in his article, "The Rogue Nation," makes it clear that the U.S. government has a hegemonic agenda that it is pursuing without congressional or public awareness. The agenda unfolds piecemeal as a response to "terrorism," and the big picture is not understood by the public or by most in Congress. Giraldi protests that the agenda is illegal under both U.S. and international law, but that the illegality of the agenda does not serve as a barrier. Only a naif could believe that such a government would not employ "false flag" operations that advance the agenda.

The U.S. population, it seems, is comprised of naifs whose lack of comprehension is bringing ruin to other lands.

3/11/10

WAR SYSTEM SUCKS TAX MONEY AWAY FROM PUBLIC EDUCATION

On March 14, 2010 Dr. Tad Daley lectured to the public and UC Berkeley students on his new book "Apocalypse Never." But do college students really understand the relationship between their rising college costs and the bloated military/industrial/research war system budget of the United States with over 700 military bases around the world, and a so-called war against terror seemingly everywhere?

Do students really understand who is sucking up the majority of tax money which previously was used to provide an affordable, public college education? The obvious answer is the 700 billion dollars a year (plus or minus 50 billion dollars for black box operations) which buy bombs, bullets, rockets, guided missiles, golf courses for Pentagon generals, early retirement, Stealth bombers, jet airplanes, drones, Navy missile cruisers, and much, much more. Education and health care for Americans?

Many young people are being forced to "join the Army" in order to have a job, get health care, and sometimes, to get a college education.

Untold billions of dollars are being spent outside of America. New billion dollar embassies are being constructed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Billions of dollars to private contractors to rebuild infrastructure in these countries which the USA conveniently destroyed in the first place.

Corporations are (literally) "making a killing" in this war system, as are the smaller businesses that make uniforms, helmets, boots, and other necessities needed by a killing machine. Not to mention the doctors, nurses, consultants, spies, engineers, physicists, and other peripheral personnel used to advance and maintain the high tech war machine system.

Then of course there is the ongoing cost of death and destruction -- rebuilding disabled soldiers, demolished buildings, roads and other infrastructure destroyed by American/NATO bombs, and then having to replace these same bombs and missiles.

Yes, it's a good business -- if you believe in death and destruction.

But it's a bad business for educationand affordable health care at home. The public cannot afford to pay for constant, worldwide wars, both covert and overt, and pay for affordable education. Tough luck, students. Get the education you can't afford thanks to a war system designed to never end.

What could replace the world's war system? A world unity government -- the Earth Federation under the Earth Constitution...designed as a world peace system. Then students could be given affordable, or even free, education -- and universal health care would be a given.

-- Editor

2/19/10 HOW THE UNPA CAMPAIGN RELATES TO THE EARTH FEDERATION'S WORLD PARLIAMENT

If European parliamentarians seek more democratic representation at the United Nations by adding a "Parliamentary Assembly," but is denied decision-making authority as is the case with the UN General Assembly, then the UNPA (and the UNGA) might consider joining the Earth Federation.

The Earth Federation under the Earth Constitution gives real democratic decision making authority to the Federation's World Parliament. This could become a real possibility since the UN Charter keeps key decision-making power in the hands of the Security Council, and limits the UN General Assembly to making "resolutions." A UN Parliamentary Assembly would most likely suffer the same fate as the General Assembly -- unless the UN Charter was dropped in favor of the Earth Constitution. -- Editor

2/12/10

WHY ESTABLISHMENT PANIC OVER THREAT OF NEW 9/11 INVESTIGATION?

An article in the Rock Creek Free Press (Feb., 2010) by Daniel Tencer reports that President Obama's appointee to head the "Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs," Cass Sunstein, proposes "cognitive infiltration" of groups that advocate "conspiracy theories" like the one surrounding 9/11.

Why such panic from the Establishment?

This type of manipulation would most likely be for the goal of trying to avoid a new 9/11 investigation -- which is what the 9/11 truth movement has been demanding all along. (A demand which seems more than reasonable in view of the new factual evidence that has surfaced since the 9/11 Commission Report was shown to be fatally flawed.)

Such an obvious propaganda maneuver by the authorities is in line with the refusal of the mainstream media to allow credible researchers on the air to explain why they think a new 9/11 investigation is warranted. MSNBC, for example, despite trying to be "progressive", has repeatedly ignored requests to put 9/11 investigators on the air -- despite the fact that these researchers have blue ribbon, impeccable credentials.

In fact, no mainstream media (TV or newspaper) dares let these investigators report their findings to the public -- it would convince the public that they had been hookwinked.

The American propaganda apparatus instead attacks these researchers ad hominen -- an old propaganda trick used to avoid having to address the real issues.

Why? It is this writer's opinion that the Establishment has ordered censorship to avoid a new investigation -- precisely because the 9/11 researchers are getting too close to the type of facts that could bring down a ruling oligarchy.

One might speculate that there is a behind-the-scenes panic. 9/11 researchers are gaining more and more credibility worldwide.

But what about the so-called "mastermind" of 9/11? Won't the upcoming trial of Khalid Shikh Mohammed (KSM) put all questions to rest when he conveniently "confesses" in a public courtroom?

In reality, the fear that KSM might not "confess" the way he was "taught" by torture techniques, may be the reason that some politicians panic at the idea of a public trial, and want a military tribunal instead.

There might be a serious problem with KSM. What if he was tortured, not to get at the truth of "who done it", but to create what is known as a "patsy" in false flag operation lingo?

What if the endless series of waterboarding torture sessions failed to condition him enough to be a reliable patsy? (Hint -- if he appears to waiver from what he is "suppose to say", one might predict the possibility of an "accidental death," taking the full blame for 9/11 with him....case closed.)

-- Editor

San Francisco Progressive Conference, like the Earth Federation, Proposes New U.S. Amendment to Take Away Corporate Personhood

Sponsored by the Network of Spiritual Progressives (www.spiritualprogressives.org), over 500 progressive activists met in San Francisco on 2/15/10. There was much concern about the direction of the Obama administration. Expanded Pentagon budgets, corporate personhood, the health care debacle, bailing out Big Money, and much more had these progressives confessing to both emotional pain, and indeed, anger.

Similar to the recent discussion in Earth Federation ranks to pass a World Law to Prohibit Corporate Personhood, these progressives want an U.S. Constitutional Amendment to accomplish this same objective, albeit using a rather vague title: "Environmental and Ethical Responsibility Amendment."

Discussion on eliminating "corporate personhood" via an amendment recognized that, even if successful, would apply only here in the United States. Most corporations are multinational. Hence the importance of the Earth Federation's World Law proposal which will be discussed at the Provisonal World Parliament's 12th session which will be held in India in December, 2010.

The present writer was highly impressed with the level of discussion of most participants at this Conference, and the inspired leadership with such individuals as Rabbi Michael Learner, Medea Benjamin, and Marianne Williamson, and others.

There was also a proposal for a worldwide "Marshall Plan" in the belief that being kind and generous to others would be much more effective in global politics than using threats, intimidation, death and destruction. American militarization has only made our world less safe, both for Americans and for others in the world.

(The goals of this progressive group were very much in keeping with Earth Federation goals on almost all fronts -- ending war and poverty, increasing human rights, and protecting the environment. They continue, however, to think more in nationalistic terms rather than in terms of global structure change. Many do not yet grasp the critical need for democratic world federation to replace the current global war system and the inadequate and ineffective United Nations. -- Editor)

2/6/2010

PROPOSED WORLD BILL FOR 12TH PROVISIONAL WORLD PARLIAMENT

Democracy Enhancement and Corporate Personhood Prohibition Act

Whereas, the fourth broad function of the Earth Federation is "to regulate world trade, communications, transportation, currency, standards, use of world resources, and other global and international processes" (Article 1.4);

Whereas, specific powers of the Earth Federation include the power to "define and regulate procedures for the nomination and election of members of each house of the World Parliament" (Article 4.7);

Whereas, the Earth Federation is responsible to protect the civil liberties identified in Article 12, including "freedom to vote without duress, and freedom for political organization and campaigning without censorship or recriminations" (Article 12.5);

Whereas, the Earth Federation is responsible to "define standards and promote worldwide improvement in working conditions," standards of living, healthcare, sanitation, and other basic necessities for a quality of life for world citizens, including protection of the environment and the ending of war (Article 13);

Whereas, in some major nations today, corporations have been granted "legal personhood," giving them all the rights and privileges of private human persons, with the exception that these corporations cannot die, that individuals operating within the corporation are protected from liability because the corporation itself is considered a collective "person," that corporations are entities without a conscience mandated solely to make a private profit for their investors, and that corporations, in spite of their vast impact on society, may claim privacy from public scrutiny, and other rights of private persons;

And whereas, within such nations, corporate personhood has given corporations the "free speech" of private persons through which they have used their vast economic resources to colonize and destroy the democratic process, engineering the election of law-makers beholden to the corporations, employing professional lobbyists for their private ends, and using a variety of means to manipulate government in the service of minority private interests;

And whereas, within the world prior to the advent of the Earth Federation, democracy has been compromised nearly everywhere by the wealth and power of the few to colonize governments and communications systems;

Therefore,

Be it enacted by the Provisional World Parliament:

Article 1.

Only flesh and blood human beings shall have the rights of legal persons as identified in Articles 12 and 13 of the Earth Constitution.

Article 2.

Private corporations under the regulative jurisdiction of the Earth Federation shall be incorporated . by the World Parliament or its designated agents with legal mandates specifically defining their functions, responsibilities, and modes of operation.

2.1.4 promotion of economic prosperity among people and communities effected by their operations, and, in general,

2.1.5 the common good of the citizens of the Earth Federation.

Article 3.

Private, profit-oriented corporations shall not have the right, as collective entities, to promote any candidate for election or any political cause within the Earth Federation, nor to contribute funds or campaign contributions or other economic support to candidates for office.

3.1. However, individuals working within any corporation, shall have the free and full right to participate in promoting candidates for election or any political cause they may choose,

3.2. Individuals working within any corporation shall have the right to contribute funds to political campaigns within whatever limits may be defined by subsequent legislation of the World Parliament.

Article 4.

Private individuals shall have the right to promote candidates or causes of their choice within the legal criteria legislated by the World Parliament. Such criteria shall be formulated within a framework that limits the ability of wealthy individuals to unduly influence or colonize the political process.

Article 5.

Non-profit political associations of private individuals (as, for example, political parties, advocacy groups, or think tanks) shall be registered with the Earth Federation and operate within whatever legal limits, transparency, and other criteria as may be defined by subsequent legislation of the World Parliament.

Article 6.

Elections conducted under the World Parliament, beginning at the First Operative Stage of the Earth Federation, shall be free, fair, and monitored by independent observers.

6.1. Each candidate shall use a government defined and paid for information booklet (which may also be electronic), of a standard size and overall format that shall be used for campaign purposes (as specified in Article 8.3.1.5 of the Earth Constitution).

6.2. Each candidate shall have equal access to public communications media (electronic or print) under limits and conditions defined by the World Parliament.

6.3. Each candidate shall have the right to use private communications media (electronic or print) as paid for by non-profit advocacy groups or contributions of private citizens under limits and conditions as defined by the World Parliament.

Article 7.

Private, profit-making communications media that are international in scope also fall under the category of corporations and agencies requiring regulation by the Earth Federation (Articles 1.4 and 4.13).

7.1. Profit-making communications corporations shall not be recognized as legal persons within the Earth Federation.

7.2. The Provisional World Parliament recognizes that profit-making communications corporations may play in important role in fostering democratic processes, the diversity of voices necessary to vigorous dialogue and debate, and disseminating information necessary to democratic decision-making.

7.3. With this possibly important role in mind, the World Parliament may wish to define legal incorporation for such entities differently from that from other profit-making corporations.

7.4. Nevertheless, the legal powers of profit-making communications corporations shall be defined within a framework directed toward maximizing the democratic powers of individual persons for participation in political processes and protecting the rights of individual persons to speech and political participation as define in Articles 12 and 13.

7.5. The framework identified in 7.4 may be fostered, for example, through anti-trust or anti-cartel laws that break up media conglomerates into a number of smaller, competing voices, or through legislation requiring the airing of opposing viewpoints.

Article 8.

When considering legislation concerning the items specified under this Democracy Enhancement and Corporate Personhood Abolition Act, the World Parliament shall seek input from each of the agencies within the Integrative Complex of the Earth Federation and from any other ministry or agency of the Federation deemed appropriate.

8.1. Since the World Boundaries and Elections Administration (Article 8.3) is responsible to define the procedures for properly democratic elections (8.3.1.5) and defines the rules for world political parties (8.3.1.6), this agency shall submit annual reports to the World Parliament regarding the successes and difficulties of democratic elections with respect to the functioning of concentrations of private wealth (wealthy individuals or profit-making corporations) and with respect to the operations of communications corporations.

8.2. These reports shall include factual assessments of the degrees to which free and fair popular democracy in the service of the majority of people is disrupted by private wealth, profit-making corporations, and/or communications corporations.

?

?

Article 9.

Penalties for violations of this act shall be determined by the World Parliament and enforced by the world police and world courts.

9.1. All penalties shall apply to individuals and none to corporations, since it is individuals who break the law, not abstract legal entities.

9.2. The penalties and courts shall normally assess greater responsibility to those higher up in the corporate hierarchy, keeping in mind that "obeying orders" from one�s boss does not fully exonerate any individual who knowingly breaks the law.

9.3. Whistle blowers and others who report abuses with regard to this act shall be protected by this law from retaliation by their employers. It shall be the responsibility of the World Ombudsmus to monitor such situations and protect the rights of the persons involved.

The US bombing, invasion, occupation and torture in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bombing of Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, and the continuing Israeli-US genocide against the Palestinians have created an army of new anti-American terrorists. We'll be hearing from them for a terribly long time. And we'll be hearing American officials twist themselves into intellectual and moral knots as they try to avoid confronting these facts.

In his "State of the Union" address on January 27, President Obama said: "But if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know." Well, ending America's many wars would free up enough money to do anything a rational, humane society would want to do. Eliminating the military budget would pay for free medical care for everyone. Free university education for everyone. Creating a government public works project that could provide millions of decently-paid jobs, like repairing the decrepit infrastructure and healing the environment to the best of our ability. You can add your own favorite projects. All covered, just by ending the damn wars. Imagine that.

(Editor's note: A belligerent nation always at war will go so deeply in debt that it will no longer be able to care for its own citizens at home. Worse yet, military and covert operation violence, death and destruction, make citizens less safe because the victims eventually seek revenge. Brutality only pacifies on the surface, underneath the victims seethe with anger and hate.)

11/11/10

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF WORLD PEACE: TREATIES ARE NOT THE ROAD TO WORLD PEACE AND JUSTICE -- ONLY A FEDERATED WORLD UNION IS REALISTIC AND PRACTICAL

Recently a world federalist sent out an impressive list of United Nations or other international treaties and conventions in various stages of consideration or acceptance by various nations.

The list included the NEW START TREATY (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), the COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY (CTBT), the NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION TREATY (NPT), and conventions to ban cluster munitions and land mines. Also there are UN conventions against torture which came into force in 1987, conventions on the rights of children (1990) and the disabled (2008), and other important agreements.

By addressing these issues nations were acknowledging problems of universal concern and importance despite differences in culture and tradition, illustrating clearly that there can be universally agreed upon standards of ethics and conduct. However, talk is cheap. Actually abiding by these types of agreements is a different story. History shows that agreements based upon treaties are built upon quicksand. Time and time again, particularly with the more powerful, treaties are ignored when seen as inconvenient with regard to national self-interest or business interests.

Smaller or weaker nations also routinely ignore these agreements but do so differently. They sneak and cheat as in the case of Israel regarding nuclear weapons, or get a powerful ally (in this case the USA) to give them protection from enforcement.

So where does the "Psychology of World Peace" enter this picture, and what does psychology have to do with treaties, conventions, and other agreements between nations?

In the current global system of treaty-based agreements, nations maintain "absolute" sovereignty. This fact means that nations are allowed to have secret operations, and choose which agreements they will abide by, or not. There is no guarantee of open inspection and investigation. Moreover, individual leaders are protected from outside criminal prosecution by their own nation.

The key psychological result of national sovereignty is one of institutionalizedparanoia.

Prison gangs, like nations, operate under the paranoid dynamic. Because each gang is autonomous (i.e., sovereign), they are automatically paranoid that the other gang is arming to get the advantage. Hence, even when prison authorities do a complete, clean, prison sweep of all weapons everywhere in the prison -- the gangs within weeks rearm themselves.

The psychological effect of this dysfunctional global system is that each nation is paranoid of the other, and rightfully so. Nations, both powerful or weak, may be up to no good to get the advantage over the other.

There is only one method to end the dynamics of national paranoia. The nations must federate in a democratic world union. The Earth Constitution is designed for just that purpose.

The United Nations, consisting of sovereign nations and hence guaranteeing a constant dynamic of paranoia, must freely give way to the Earth Federation/Earth Constitution -- the latter of which has no military or economic power. Its power is in the fact that its design willeliminate once and for all the poison of paranoia which has plagued our world and brought us to the brink of destruction.

-- Editor (RK)

11/1/10

The United Nations 65th Anniversary celebration in San Francisco (October 22 -24, 2010) offered a generous portion of good feelings toward world unity and understanding to honor the signing of the UN Charter on October 24, 1945 in San Francisco.

Events included a "Symphony for United Nations" conducted by Maestro Joseph Eger well-known for his artistic support of the UN; an inter-generational model UN session; a film festival on international issues; and some cultural performances with participants from other countries.

Although organizers of the events were successful in created a positive and constructive atmosphere, they did not shy away from discussing serious world problems. Speakers discussed worldwide poverty, sickness and diseases such as AIDS, human rights, wars and the urgent need for disarmament of weapons of mass destruction.

The prescriptions offered for solving these problems, however, tended to remain in the same United Nations paradigm emphasizing millennium goals which have been largely unsuccessful. Wars, threats of nuclear annihilation, worldwide poverty, and loss of individual human rights continue to be epidemic.

Lip service was made for the need to "strengthen the UN" and a call was put out to "rejuvenate the nuclear disarmament movement". A Stanford University professor, Dr. Hellman, presented the facts on the risks of nuclear catastrophe --and left this observer more determined than ever to demand full nuclear disarmament the world over.

Proposed solutions by invited speakers, however, tended to remain "inside the box" regarding changes to the United Nations and the present global system. Proposed solutions relied upon treaties and international law within the present UN structure rather than a new democratic world body able to apply enforceable world laws on individuals and with a democratically elected world parliament.

There was some minor mention of the need for a "UN Peoples Assembly" to go along with the UN General Assembly, but no strong message to eliminate the Security Council with its undemocratic veto power, and no advocacy to replace or change the UN into a genuine democratic world federation which is what is ultimately needed -- the sooner the better.

The event drew together many people of goodwill, and reinforced the importance of a world body in which to discuss world problems and possible solutions. For me, the main importance of this event was that it reinforced goals which have moral and spiritual significance, and continues to maintain faith in the potential for good from our global community.

-- RK

8/31/10

WILL BIG OIL AND OTHER CORPORATIONS CASH IN WHILE THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER PAYS FIRST FOR A COMBAT MISSION, NOW FOR AN ONGOING OCCUPATION OF IRAQ?

Today the American president announced an end to the "combat mission" in Iraq. He does not discuss any plan to have an ongoing occupation using a mixture of American soldiers (now doing "training", not "combat"), and private contractors (mercenaries) to be stationed in permanent armed bases in Iraq, ready to strike if the puppet government's security forces flounder as the Iraqi people reject this arrangement.

The plan? It is my belief that the American taxpayer will get to pay for "security" while Big Oil (multinationals)& other corporations make lucrative deals for Iraqi oil and/or infrastructure projects, protected by the might of the American military, new police/military security via the State Dept., and highly paid private contractors replacing the "combat" troops along with those Iraqi's willing to join the security forces for a puppet government.

Otherwise, why an almost 1 billion dollar American embassy in Iraq, bigger than the Vatican according to various reports? It's a fortress, and the Americans along with the puppet government will be behind walls while Iraqi death/torture squads roam the land targeting dissidents. Moreover, although President Obama has stated America would not have a permanent presence in Iraq, the facts on the ground include numerous American military bases costing millions of dollars, and construction has apparently not abated.

War and occupation appears good for Big Business. Prediction: Big Oil and other corporations (e.g., Halliburton) will not pay for this protection, or the costs of maintaining a puppet government in which Iraqi officials will have ample opportunity to get rich right along with their corporate benefactors. (It will be the ordinary Iraqi citizen who will lose out.)

Another prediction: A similar fate awaits Afghanistan as Big Oil seeks a pipeline through that country. It will also require an ongoing occupation of the country coupled with a puppet government to fight off the rebellious people who reject such suppression. The American taxpayer will pay for the mixture of American soldiers and private contractors who will stay in Afghanistan (just like in Iraq) to insure a cooperating puppet government.

The Earth Federation would not accept the stealing of resources by use of military might by any nation and the use of propaganda (false information) to keep the people in fear and paranoia.

The 9/11 attack caused immense trauma and was supposedly an attack by Muslims, a pretext for the current wars. Unfortunately, the actual scientific evidence suggests otherwise -- yet the American government refuses a new investigation. If the Earth Federation were in full existence, it could do an independent investigation particularly when a nation is suspected of a cover-up. (The evidence presented by 9/11 Truth researchers points to an inside job, a highly sophisticated false flag operation which has led the American people into a "war that never ends, i.e., the war on terror.)

Speculation: There are likely to be additional "false flag operations" which falsely blame new attacks (possibly again on American soil), on "patsies" -- who "confess" their crimes after unbearable torture. These terror tactics will justify continued excessive budgets for the military/industrial complex and Homeland Security, as Americans give in to manufactured paranoia and fear.

Although American soldiers and the public are told that these wars are to bring "democracy and freedom" to whatever country is being "liberated," and to "protect" America from terrorists, the facts point in a different direction: The American government, largely dominated by corporate and banking interests, want governments who cooperate with predatory capitalism and its first cousin, privatization.

(Editor's note: KBR is one of the obvious beneficiaries of these financial arrangements having been granted large contracts for oil infrastructure work. The original oil contracts drawn up earlier in the conquest under Bremmer which locked up deals for 30 years, are being challenged by some Iraqi's who believe the deals cheat the Iraqi people. Oil deals I have learned recently, are not just for American and British oil giants, but also are being given to some other countries such as China and India. Is the Iraqi Oil Ministry getting appropriate contracts for their people, or are corrupt deals being created which redirects the profits to a handful of Iraqi officials in power in collusion with the oil companies?)

8/28/10

MEXICAN ACTIVISTS MAY JOIN THE EARTH FEDERATION MOVEMENT

Communications between the Earth Federation and activists in Mexico have started since it was learned that student and political activists in Mexico are planning a "First Model World Parliament" to be held in the actual House of Deputies of the Mexican government.

The original connection originated from a meeting with Democratic World Federalists in San Francisco who, in association with the World Alliance to Transform the United Nations, began planning meetings in San Francisco perhaps in October, 2010.

The political importance of this network of strategy discussions is that we see American, Mexican, and possibly activists from Central and South America joining together -- with a strong student involvement.

Earth Federation activists believe that the Earth Constitution is the ideal instrument which will allow the creation of a true, as opposed to a toothless, world parliament.

There are activists who would like to simply have an elected world parliament which offers resolutions in terms of solutions, rather than create a genuine new world body (new world government) to replace the present shadow world government which analysts have noted are unelected, wealthy and powerful in military might and in political corruption.

-- RK 8/28/10

* * * * * * *

Received 6/21/10 from Gary Shepherd

Gary Shepherd's analysis is a good history lesson for proponents of democratic world government. The public and politicians may resist, and even resent, logical solutions to our world's problems -- even when the old ways have been convincingly shown to be wrong, and in current times, disastrous. -- Editor

PTOLEMY, COPERNICUS AND WORLD GOVERNMENT

By Gary Shepherd

May - June 2010 issue of United World magazinegshepher@verizon.net

Long before the advent of the current public arguments aboutevolution and global warming, the greatest controversy in the history ofscience was the debate between the geocentric, or earth-centered model of theuniverse described by the second century Greek astronomer Ptolemy, and theheliocentric, or sun-centered model, advocated by the 16th century Polishastronomer Copernicus.

This battle took most of a century to resolve, and it involved someof the most powerful political and religious leaders of its time. Today, wehave forgotten just what a mental revolution Copernicus' theory represented.Although some Greek philosophers had speculated about a heliocentric model, thePtolemaic model had been almost universally accepted by astronomers for morethan a thousand years. In fact, Copernicus knew that his idea was so radicalthat he didn't even have it published until after he had safely died.

It is easy to see why. The idea that the Earth is at the center ofthe universe, and that the sun, moon, planets and stars revolve around itmatches our everyday experience. After all, the Earth appears immobile beneathour feet -- it doesn't seem to move. When we look up at the sky, the heavenlybodies seem to be moving around us. Even today, we speak of the sun rising orsetting, as if it were the sun circling around the Earth.

What is more, the geocentric model could be used to explain all thescientific observations that could be made at that time. Because it had beennoticed that sometimes the planets seemed to stop and go backwards in theirorbits for a while, Ptolemy created smaller circles, called epicycles, withinthe larger crystalline spheres in which the planets circled around the Earth,so that they were sometimes moving in the opposite direction from the largercircle. Using this model, one could calculate precisely where a planet would beat any particular time -- an important consideration at the time, since mostastronomers were also astrologers, and knowledge of the locations of theplanets at the time of a person's birth was vital to casting horoscopes.

But as time went on, and observations became more precise, theability of the Ptolemaic model to predict planetary locations began to breakdown. The model was altered by later scientists, making it more and morecomplex, in an effort to make it correspond to observations of the realuniverse. In fact, the Ptolemaic model became so complex, that some scientists,in order calculate planetary movements, used the Copernican model formathematical purposes, even though they didn't really believe it described theactual universe.

Eventually, partly because of the invention of the telescope, theCopernican model achieved acceptance over its rival, and today one would havedifficulty finding an astronomer anywhere who supported the geocentricuniverse.

What, one is tempted to ask, has any of this to do with the idea ofworld government? Well, the parallels are quite striking. The current system ofindependent nation-states, sometimes called the Westphalian system, has existedfor many centuries as the unquestioned model for the way the political world isdesigned. Like the Ptolemaic model, it makes sense to us. The nations appear toexist, they appear to be eternal, and there doesn't appear to be any logicalalternative to it. They match our everyday experience. We speak of the earth,and humanity, as if they were both divided up into nation-states.

Like the Ptolemaic model, as time has passed the nation-state modelhas had to grow more and more complex to match the real world. Treaties,conventions, and agreements have piled up, one upon the other, to govern thecomplicated relations between the different nations. For instance, the DanubeRiver runs through numerous different nations on its way to the sea. All of thenational governments have a say in governing the preservation of that river,making it very difficult to come to agreement about anything. The currentsystem has become so complex that sometimes, in order to make it functionproperly, people act as if the world were united, even though they don't reallybelieve it is.

Just as it was the advance of technology and science led to moreprecise measurements that doomed the Ptolemaic model to extinction, advancedtechnology is leading toward measurements that are threatening the viability ofthe nation-state system. We have peered down at the earth's surface from ourorbital satellites and have seen that there are no borders drawn on the realearth. We have peered into the intricacies of the human genome, and we havefound no genes for nationality.

Copernicus offered a model that was truer to the real world, andthus eventually supplanted the older, more inaccurate model. So too must weoffer a model of society that is truer to the real world, which is moreaccurate, more sustainable, and simply works better, so that it can replace theoutdated one. One day, the idea of separate nation-states will come to seem asquaint and antiquated as the perfect crystalline spheres that were a feature ofthe Ptolemaic system.

5/24/10

MODERN MODERATE MUSLIM MAN OPPOSES USE OF THREATS OR VIOLENCE TO CENSOR RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION AND FREE SPEECH

A Portland, Oregon Muslim man in a recent article (in USA Today, May 13, 2010) opposesuse of threats and violence by some Muslims who have murdered, or threatened to murder, those who have used the image of Mohammed in ways for which they did not approve.

Mr. Harris Zafar is highly critical of Muslim violence used to censor free speech and states that "...Islam does not support people who violently censor free speech. The Quran guarantees freedom of speech..." Mr. Zafar goes on to cite examples from the Quran and from the life of Mohammed himself which support nonviolence.

Importantly, Mr. Zafar also condemns State sponsored blasphemy laws such as used in Saudi Arabia (apostasy potentially punishable by death), Pakistan, and Afghanistan which also may invoke prison or a death sentence.

These majority Muslim states, according to the article, suppress other religious faiths and beliefs using blasphemy laws to silence or imprison religious minorities, journalists, academicians, and dissenters.

[Use of threats or violence to prevent free speech or practice of religion violates the Earth Constitution's Bill of Human Rights.]

Attempts to censor or silence critics is not limited to extremist Muslims. Jewish Zionists in the USA go to great lengths to silence criticism of Israel but use different tactics such as applying pressure to put a newspaper out of business.

Much like Saudi Arabia gives Muslims special rights, Israel does the same for its Jewish population. In both cases, citizens of other religions are second class citizens in terms of legal rights. [Unequal treatment of citizens violates the Human Rights section of the Earth Constitution.]

There is a somewhat different but parallel issue in the United States wherein Jewish Zionists try to silence criticism of Israel's criminal actions against the Palestinians. These Jewish extremists, unlike Muslim zealots, may allow public criticism of their God (Yahweh or Jehova), but they do not allow a full public discussion of Israel's expansionistic aggression against Palestinians and have "unelected" American politicians who dared defy the Israeli Lobby.

Last but not least, we must keep in mind a large group of fundamentalist Christians who (subconsciously) are actually hoping to have Armageddon (the ultimate in violence) to prove that their interpretation of Biblical scripture is "true." These extremist Christians support and encourage Israeli expansionism in the belief that once Israel has conquered all of the so-called "Promised Land" for Jews, then Biblical conditions are fulfilled for Armageddon to occur. Jesus will return while they, the faithful, will "rapture" up to heaven.

Armageddon, with its implication of widespread death and destruction, is not a particularly wholesome or loving value. Jesus, these extremists seem to fail to see, is the Prince of Peace -- not the Prince of Death and Destruction. If Jesus were here now, he would without question condemn any Armageddon scenario -- Jesus, in this writer's opinion, would not approve of the suffering of so many innocent people, such as our children, and would go into action to prevent such a horrible event.

-- Editor

4/30/10

"EQUAL LAND FOR EQUAL PEOPLE" OFFERS A STANDARD BY WHICH TO JUDGE PROPOSED SOLUTIONS BETWEEN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL

Alan Barnett, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor (San Jose State University in California, USA), a peace and social justice activist, has proposed that the path to a fair and peaceful settlement between Israel and Palestine should use the standard of "Equal Land for Equal People."

This principle of equality is in keeping with the standards and inherent basic rights as stated in the Earth Federation's Constitution. It would provide an objective that treats both the Jews and Palestinians (including Christians and Muslims) with integrity and respect.

Dr. Barnett notes that at the present time Israel has 78% of the Holy Land while Palestine has only 22%, despite the fact that when one counts the actual number of Jews and Palestinians in the region (including the Palestinian refugees driven out of Israel and in refugee camps), both have a population of roughly 6 to 8 million people. Hence his notion of "Equal Land for Equal People".

Barnett points out that, under the (international) rule of "right of return" the Palestinians would need more land than they presently have in order to accommodate the many refugees who want to return to their former homes (before being forced out year after year by the Israeli's).

The advantage of "Equal Land for Equal People" according to Dr. Barnett is that "The security of the Israelis depends on the Palestinians feeling that they are being dealt with fairly."

"Peace is only possible if both Israelis and Palestinians are treated as equals," writes Barnett.

Editor's note - "Equal land for equal people" is a potentially important guideline available for mediators in establishing a lasting and productive peace between Israel and Palestine. It is consistent with the Earth Constitution. Every human being is inherently, by birth, a "citizen of Earth" with all of the rights granted in Articles 12 and 13 (Bill of Rights for the Citizens of Earth, and Directive Principles).

3/27/10 MOVEMENT OF BUNKER BUSTER BOMBS BY THE US AIR FORCE SUGGESTS POSSIBLE ATTACK PLANS AGAINST IRAN. ANALYST PREDICTS A "STAGED TERRORIST" ATTACK WILL BE USED FOR JUSTIFICATION.

Analyst Paul Craig Roberts reports that a Scottish newspaper, The Herald Scotland, has reported that "bombs are being assembled for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities." It is claimed by the newspaper that "bunker-buster bombs are being moved to an Air Force base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. One London analyst, Dan Piesch, is quoted as saying, "They are gearing up totally for the destruction of Iran."

The analysts speculate to what sounds like another "shock and awe" type of devastation as was used against Iraq, with the Western media claiming the attack is for "freedom and democracy" but the real intent will be to establish a puppet government.

A false flag operation followed by a military attack and invasion would be a violation of international law. (Many investigators believe that 9/11 was a false flag operation used as a pretext for war.) Would Israel and the USA act jointly?

If Iran is attacked under false pretense, would high government officials be held accountable by the International Criminal Court for war crimes? Even if Israel alone led the attack, could President Obama or Pentagon generals be tried for an international crime of aiding and abetting?

According to news reports, the U.S. military is shipping "bunker-buster" bombs to the U.S. Air Force base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The Herald Scotland reports that experts say the bombs are being assembled for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

The newspaper quotes Dan Piesch, director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of London: "They are gearing up totally for the destruction of Iran."

The next step will be a staged "terrorist attack," a "false flag" operation as per Operation Northwoods, for which Iran will be blamed. As Iran and its leadership have already been demonized, the "false flag" attack will suffice to obtain US and European public support for bombing Iran. The bombing will include more than the nuclear facilities and will continue until the Iranians agree to regime change and the installation of a puppet government. The corrupt American media will present the new puppet as "freedom and democracy."

If the past is a guide, Americans will fall for the deception. In the February issue of the American Behavioral Scientist, a scholarly journal, Professor Lance DeHaven-Smith writes that state crimes against democracy (SCAD) involve government officials, often in combination with private interests, that engage in covert activities in order to implement an agenda. Examples include McCarthyism or the fabrication of evidence of communist infiltration, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution based on false claims of President Johnson and Pentagon chief McNamara that North Vietnam attacked a U.S. naval vessel, the burglary of the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist in order to discredit Ellsberg (the Pentagon Papers) as "disturbed," and the falsified "intelligence" that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in order to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

There are many other examples. I have always regarded the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City as a SCAD. Allegedly, a disturbed Tim McVeigh used a fertilizer bomb in a truck parked outside the building. More likely, McVeigh was a patsy, whose fertilizer bomb was a cover for explosives planted inside the building.

A number of experts dismissed the possibility of McVeigh's bomb producing such structural damage. For example, General Benton K. Partin, who was in charge of U.S. Air Force munitions design and testing, produced a thick report on the Murrah building bombing which concluded that the building blew up from the inside out. Gen. Partin concluded that "the pattern of damage would have been technically impossible without supplementary demolition charges at some of the reinforced concrete bases inside the building, a standard demolition technique. For a simplistic blast truck bomb, of the size and composition reported, to be able to reach out on the order of 60 feet and collapse a reinforced column base the size of column A7 is beyond credulity."Gen. Partin dismissed the official report as "a massive cover-up of immense proportions."

Of course, the general's unquestionable expertise had no bearing on the outcome. One reason is that his and other expert voices were drowned out by media pumping the official story. Another reason is that public beliefs in a democracy run counter to suspicion of government as a terrorist agent. Professor Laurie Manwell of the University of Guelph says that "false flag" operations have the advantage over truth: "research shows that people are far less willing to examine information that disputes, rather than confirms, their beliefs." Professor Steven Hoffman agrees: "Our data shows substantial support for a cognitive theory known as 'motivated reasoning,' which suggests that rather than search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief, people actually seek out information that confirms what they already believe. In fact, for the most part people completely ignore contrary information." Even when hard evidence turns up, it can be discredited as a "conspiracy theory."

All that is necessary for success of "false flag" or "black ops" events is for the government to have its story ready and to have a reliable and compliant media. Once an official story is in place, thought and investigation are precluded. Any formal inquiry that is convened serves to buttress the already provided explanation.

An explanation ready-at-hand is almost a give-away that an incident is a "black ops" event. Notice how quickly the U.S. government, allegedly so totally deceived by al Qaida, provided the explanation for 9/11. When President Kennedy was assassinated, the government produced the culprit immediately. The alleged culprit was conveniently shot inside a jail by a civilian before he could be questioned. But the official story was ready, and it held.

Professors Manwell and Hoffman's research resonates with me. I remember reading in my graduate studies that the Czarist secret police set off bombs in order to create excuses to arrest their targets. My inclination was to dismiss the accounts as anti-Czarist propaganda by pro-communist historians. It was only later when Robert Conquest confirmed to me that this was indeed the practice of the Czarist secret police that the scales fell from my eyes.

Former CIA official Philip Giraldi in his article, "The Rogue Nation," makes it clear that the U.S. government has a hegemonic agenda that it is pursuing without congressional or public awareness. The agenda unfolds piecemeal as a response to "terrorism," and the big picture is not understood by the public or by most in Congress. Giraldi protests that the agenda is illegal under both U.S. and international law, but that the illegality of the agenda does not serve as a barrier. Only a naif could believe that such a government would not employ "false flag" operations that advance the agenda.

The U.S. population, it seems, is comprised of naifs whose lack of comprehension is bringing ruin to other lands.

3/11/10

WAR SYSTEM SUCKS TAX MONEY AWAY FROM PUBLIC EDUCATION

On March 14, 2010 Dr. Tad Daley lectured to the public and UC Berkeley students on his new book "Apocalypse Never." But do college students really understand the relationship between their rising college costs and the bloated military/industrial/research war system budget of the United States with over 700 military bases around the world, and a so-called war against terror seemingly everywhere?

Do students really understand who is sucking up the majority of tax money which previously was used to provide an affordable, public college education? The obvious answer is the 700 billion dollars a year (plus or minus 50 billion dollars for black box operations) which buy bombs, bullets, rockets, guided missiles, golf courses for Pentagon generals, early retirement, Stealth bombers, jet airplanes, drones, Navy missile cruisers, and much, much more. Education and health care for Americans?

Many young people are being forced to "join the Army" in order to have a job, get health care, and sometimes, to get a college education.

Untold billions of dollars are being spent outside of America. New billion dollar embassies are being constructed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Billions of dollars to private contractors to rebuild infrastructure in these countries which the USA conveniently destroyed in the first place.

Corporations are (literally) "making a killing" in this war system, as are the smaller businesses that make uniforms, helmets, boots, and other necessities needed by a killing machine. Not to mention the doctors, nurses, consultants, spies, engineers, physicists, and other peripheral personnel used to advance and maintain the high tech war machine system.

Then of course there is the ongoing cost of death and destruction -- rebuilding disabled soldiers, demolished buildings, roads and other infrastructure destroyed by American/NATO bombs, and then having to replace these same bombs and missiles.

Yes, it's a good business -- if you believe in death and destruction.

But it's a bad business for educationand affordable health care at home. The public cannot afford to pay for constant, worldwide wars, both covert and overt, and pay for affordable education. Tough luck, students. Get the education you can't afford thanks to a war system designed to never end.

What could replace the world's war system? A world unity government -- the Earth Federation under the Earth Constitution...designed as a world peace system. Then students could be given affordable, or even free, education -- and universal health care would be a given.

-- Editor

2/19/10 HOW THE UNPA CAMPAIGN RELATES TO THE EARTH FEDERATION'S WORLD PARLIAMENT

If European parliamentarians seek more democratic representation at the United Nations by adding a "Parliamentary Assembly," but is denied decision-making authority as is the case with the UN General Assembly, then the UNPA (and the UNGA) might consider joining the Earth Federation.

The Earth Federation under the Earth Constitution gives real democratic decision making authority to the Federation's World Parliament. This could become a real possibility since the UN Charter keeps key decision-making power in the hands of the Security Council, and limits the UN General Assembly to making "resolutions." A UN Parliamentary Assembly would most likely suffer the same fate as the General Assembly -- unless the UN Charter was dropped in favor of the Earth Constitution. -- Editor

2/12/10

WHY ESTABLISHMENT PANIC OVER THREAT OF NEW 9/11 INVESTIGATION?

An article in the Rock Creek Free Press (Feb., 2010) by Daniel Tencer reports that President Obama's appointee to head the "Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs," Cass Sunstein, proposes "cognitive infiltration" of groups that advocate "conspiracy theories" like the one surrounding 9/11.

Why such panic from the Establishment?

This type of manipulation would most likely be for the goal of trying to avoid a new 9/11 investigation -- which is what the 9/11 truth movement has been demanding all along. (A demand which seems more than reasonable in view of the new factual evidence that has surfaced since the 9/11 Commission Report was shown to be fatally flawed.)

Such an obvious propaganda maneuver by the authorities is in line with the refusal of the mainstream media to allow credible researchers on the air to explain why they think a new 9/11 investigation is warranted. MSNBC, for example, despite trying to be "progressive", has repeatedly ignored requests to put 9/11 investigators on the air -- despite the fact that these researchers have blue ribbon, impeccable credentials.

In fact, no mainstream media (TV or newspaper) dares let these investigators report their findings to the public -- it would convince the public that they had been hookwinked.

The American propaganda apparatus instead attacks these researchers ad hominen -- an old propaganda trick used to avoid having to address the real issues.

Why? It is this writer's opinion that the Establishment has ordered censorship to avoid a new investigation -- precisely because the 9/11 researchers are getting too close to the type of facts that could bring down a ruling oligarchy.

One might speculate that there is a behind-the-scenes panic. 9/11 researchers are gaining more and more credibility worldwide.

But what about the so-called "mastermind" of 9/11? Won't the upcoming trial of Khalid Shikh Mohammed (KSM) put all questions to rest when he conveniently "confesses" in a public courtroom?

In reality, the fear that KSM might not "confess" the way he was "taught" by torture techniques, may be the reason that some politicians panic at the idea of a public trial, and want a military tribunal instead.

There might be a serious problem with KSM. What if he was tortured, not to get at the truth of "who done it", but to create what is known as a "patsy" in false flag operation lingo?

What if the endless series of waterboarding torture sessions failed to condition him enough to be a reliable patsy? (Hint -- if he appears to waiver from what he is "suppose to say", one might predict the possibility of an "accidental death," taking the full blame for 9/11 with him....case closed.)

-- Editor

San Francisco Progressive Conference, like the Earth Federation, Proposes New U.S. Amendment to Take Away Corporate Personhood

Sponsored by the Network of Spiritual Progressives (www.spiritualprogressives.org), over 500 progressive activists met in San Francisco on 2/15/10. There was much concern about the direction of the Obama administration. Expanded Pentagon budgets, corporate personhood, the health care debacle, bailing out Big Money, and much more had these progressives confessing to both emotional pain, and indeed, anger.

Similar to the recent discussion in Earth Federation ranks to pass a World Law to Prohibit Corporate Personhood, these progressives want an U.S. Constitutional Amendment to accomplish this same objective, albeit using a rather vague title: "Environmental and Ethical Responsibility Amendment."

Discussion on eliminating "corporate personhood" via an amendment recognized that, even if successful, would apply only here in the United States. Most corporations are multinational. Hence the importance of the Earth Federation's World Law proposal which will be discussed at the Provisonal World Parliament's 12th session which will be held in India in December, 2010.

The present writer was highly impressed with the level of discussion of most participants at this Conference, and the inspired leadership with such individuals as Rabbi Michael Learner, Medea Benjamin, and Marianne Williamson, and others.

There was also a proposal for a worldwide "Marshall Plan" in the belief that being kind and generous to others would be much more effective in global politics than using threats, intimidation, death and destruction. American militarization has only made our world less safe, both for Americans and for others in the world.

(The goals of this progressive group were very much in keeping with Earth Federation goals on almost all fronts -- ending war and poverty, increasing human rights, and protecting the environment. They continue, however, to think more in nationalistic terms rather than in terms of global structure change. Many do not yet grasp the critical need for democratic world federation to replace the current global war system and the inadequate and ineffective United Nations. -- Editor)

2/6/2010

PROPOSED WORLD BILL FOR 12TH PROVISIONAL WORLD PARLIAMENT

Democracy Enhancement and Corporate Personhood Prohibition Act

Whereas, the fourth broad function of the Earth Federation is "to regulate world trade, communications, transportation, currency, standards, use of world resources, and other global and international processes" (Article 1.4);

Whereas, specific powers of the Earth Federation include the power to "define and regulate procedures for the nomination and election of members of each house of the World Parliament" (Article 4.7);

Whereas, the Earth Federation is responsible to protect the civil liberties identified in Article 12, including "freedom to vote without duress, and freedom for political organization and campaigning without censorship or recriminations" (Article 12.5);

Whereas, the Earth Federation is responsible to "define standards and promote worldwide improvement in working conditions," standards of living, healthcare, sanitation, and other basic necessities for a quality of life for world citizens, including protection of the environment and the ending of war (Article 13);

Whereas, in some major nations today, corporations have been granted "legal personhood," giving them all the rights and privileges of private human persons, with the exception that these corporations cannot die, that individuals operating within the corporation are protected from liability because the corporation itself is considered a collective "person," that corporations are entities without a conscience mandated solely to make a private profit for their investors, and that corporations, in spite of their vast impact on society, may claim privacy from public scrutiny, and other rights of private persons;

And whereas, within such nations, corporate personhood has given corporations the "free speech" of private persons through which they have used their vast economic resources to colonize and destroy the democratic process, engineering the election of law-makers beholden to the corporations, employing professional lobbyists for their private ends, and using a variety of means to manipulate government in the service of minority private interests;

And whereas, within the world prior to the advent of the Earth Federation, democracy has been compromised nearly everywhere by the wealth and power of the few to colonize governments and communications systems;

Therefore,

Be it enacted by the Provisional World Parliament:

Article 1.

Only flesh and blood human beings shall have the rights of legal persons as identified in Articles 12 and 13 of the Earth Constitution.

Article 2.

Private corporations under the regulative jurisdiction of the Earth Federation shall be incorporated . by the World Parliament or its designated agents with legal mandates specifically defining their functions, responsibilities, and modes of operation.

2.1.4 promotion of economic prosperity among people and communities effected by their operations, and, in general,

2.1.5 the common good of the citizens of the Earth Federation.

Article 3.

Private, profit-oriented corporations shall not have the right, as collective entities, to promote any candidate for election or any political cause within the Earth Federation, nor to contribute funds or campaign contributions or other economic support to candidates for office.

3.1. However, individuals working within any corporation, shall have the free and full right to participate in promoting candidates for election or any political cause they may choose,

3.2. Individuals working within any corporation shall have the right to contribute funds to political campaigns within whatever limits may be defined by subsequent legislation of the World Parliament.

Article 4.

Private individuals shall have the right to promote candidates or causes of their choice within the legal criteria legislated by the World Parliament. Such criteria shall be formulated within a framework that limits the ability of wealthy individuals to unduly influence or colonize the political process.

Article 5.

Non-profit political associations of private individuals (as, for example, political parties, advocacy groups, or think tanks) shall be registered with the Earth Federation and operate within whatever legal limits, transparency, and other criteria as may be defined by subsequent legislation of the World Parliament.

Article 6.

Elections conducted under the World Parliament, beginning at the First Operative Stage of the Earth Federation, shall be free, fair, and monitored by independent observers.

6.1. Each candidate shall use a government defined and paid for information booklet (which may also be electronic), of a standard size and overall format that shall be used for campaign purposes (as specified in Article 8.3.1.5 of the Earth Constitution).

6.2. Each candidate shall have equal access to public communications media (electronic or print) under limits and conditions defined by the World Parliament.

6.3. Each candidate shall have the right to use private communications media (electronic or print) as paid for by non-profit advocacy groups or contributions of private citizens under limits and conditions as defined by the World Parliament.

Article 7.

Private, profit-making communications media that are international in scope also fall under the category of corporations and agencies requiring regulation by the Earth Federation (Articles 1.4 and 4.13).

7.1. Profit-making communications corporations shall not be recognized as legal persons within the Earth Federation.

7.2. The Provisional World Parliament recognizes that profit-making communications corporations may play in important role in fostering democratic processes, the diversity of voices necessary to vigorous dialogue and debate, and disseminating information necessary to democratic decision-making.

7.3. With this possibly important role in mind, the World Parliament may wish to define legal incorporation for such entities differently from that from other profit-making corporations.

7.4. Nevertheless, the legal powers of profit-making communications corporations shall be defined within a framework directed toward maximizing the democratic powers of individual persons for participation in political processes and protecting the rights of individual persons to speech and political participation as define in Articles 12 and 13.

7.5. The framework identified in 7.4 may be fostered, for example, through anti-trust or anti-cartel laws that break up media conglomerates into a number of smaller, competing voices, or through legislation requiring the airing of opposing viewpoints.

Article 8.

When considering legislation concerning the items specified under this Democracy Enhancement and Corporate Personhood Abolition Act, the World Parliament shall seek input from each of the agencies within the Integrative Complex of the Earth Federation and from any other ministry or agency of the Federation deemed appropriate.

8.1. Since the World Boundaries and Elections Administration (Article 8.3) is responsible to define the procedures for properly democratic elections (8.3.1.5) and defines the rules for world political parties (8.3.1.6), this agency shall submit annual reports to the World Parliament regarding the successes and difficulties of democratic elections with respect to the functioning of concentrations of private wealth (wealthy individuals or profit-making corporations) and with respect to the operations of communications corporations.

8.2. These reports shall include factual assessments of the degrees to which free and fair popular democracy in the service of the majority of people is disrupted by private wealth, profit-making corporations, and/or communications corporations.

?

?

Article 9.

Penalties for violations of this act shall be determined by the World Parliament and enforced by the world police and world courts.

9.1. All penalties shall apply to individuals and none to corporations, since it is individuals who break the law, not abstract legal entities.

9.2. The penalties and courts shall normally assess greater responsibility to those higher up in the corporate hierarchy, keeping in mind that "obeying orders" from one�s boss does not fully exonerate any individual who knowingly breaks the law.

9.3. Whistle blowers and others who report abuses with regard to this act shall be protected by this law from retaliation by their employers. It shall be the responsibility of the World Ombudsmus to monitor such situations and protect the rights of the persons involved.

The US bombing, invasion, occupation and torture in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bombing of Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, and the continuing Israeli-US genocide against the Palestinians have created an army of new anti-American terrorists. We'll be hearing from them for a terribly long time. And we'll be hearing American officials twist themselves into intellectual and moral knots as they try to avoid confronting these facts.

In his "State of the Union" address on January 27, President Obama said: "But if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know." Well, ending America's many wars would free up enough money to do anything a rational, humane society would want to do. Eliminating the military budget would pay for free medical care for everyone. Free university education for everyone. Creating a government public works project that could provide millions of decently-paid jobs, like repairing the decrepit infrastructure and healing the environment to the best of our ability. You can add your own favorite projects. All covered, just by ending the damn wars. Imagine that.

(Editor's note: A belligerent nation always at war will go so deeply in debt that it will no longer be able to care for its own citizens at home. Worse yet, military and covert operation violence, death and destruction, make citizens less safe because the victims eventually seek revenge. Brutality only pacifies on the surface, underneath the victims seethe with anger and hate.)

11/11/10

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF WORLD PEACE: TREATIES ARE NOT THE ROAD TO WORLD PEACE AND JUSTICE -- ONLY A FEDERATED WORLD UNION IS REALISTIC AND PRACTICAL

Recently a world federalist sent out an impressive list of United Nations or other international treaties and conventions in various stages of consideration or acceptance by various nations.

The list included the NEW START TREATY (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), the COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY (CTBT), the NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION TREATY (NPT), and conventions to ban cluster munitions and land mines. Also there are UN conventions against torture which came into force in 1987, conventions on the rights of children (1990) and the disabled (2008), and other important agreements.

By addressing these issues nations were acknowledging problems of universal concern and importance despite differences in culture and tradition, illustrating clearly that there can be universally agreed upon standards of ethics and conduct. However, talk is cheap. Actually abiding by these types of agreements is a different story. History shows that agreements based upon treaties are built upon quicksand. Time and time again, particularly with the more powerful, treaties are ignored when seen as inconvenient with regard to national self-interest or business interests.

Smaller or weaker nations also routinely ignore these agreements but do so differently. They sneak and cheat as in the case of Israel regarding nuclear weapons, or get a powerful ally (in this case the USA) to give them protection from enforcement.

So where does the "Psychology of World Peace" enter this picture, and what does psychology have to do with treaties, conventions, and other agreements between nations?

In the current global system of treaty-based agreements, nations maintain "absolute" sovereignty. This fact means that nations are allowed to have secret operations, and choose which agreements they will abide by, or not. There is no guarantee of open inspection and investigation. Moreover, individual leaders are protected from outside criminal prosecution by their own nation.

The key psychological result of national sovereignty is one of institutionalizedparanoia.

Prison gangs, like nations, operate under the paranoid dynamic. Because each gang is autonomous (i.e., sovereign), they are automatically paranoid that the other gang is arming to get the advantage. Hence, even when prison authorities do a complete, clean, prison sweep of all weapons everywhere in the prison -- the gangs within weeks rearm themselves.

The psychological effect of this dysfunctional global system is that each nation is paranoid of the other, and rightfully so. Nations, both powerful or weak, may be up to no good to get the advantage over the other.

There is only one method to end the dynamics of national paranoia. The nations must federate in a democratic world union. The Earth Constitution is designed for just that purpose.

The United Nations, consisting of sovereign nations and hence guaranteeing a constant dynamic of paranoia, must freely give way to the Earth Federation/Earth Constitution -- the latter of which has no military or economic power. Its power is in the fact that its design willeliminate once and for all the poison of paranoia which has plagued our world and brought us to the brink of destruction.

-- Editor (RK)

11/1/10

The United Nations 65th Anniversary celebration in San Francisco (October 22 -24, 2010) offered a generous portion of good feelings toward world unity and understanding to honor the signing of the UN Charter on October 24, 1945 in San Francisco.

Events included a "Symphony for United Nations" conducted by Maestro Joseph Eger well-known for his artistic support of the UN; an inter-generational model UN session; a film festival on international issues; and some cultural performances with participants from other countries.

Although organizers of the events were successful in created a positive and constructive atmosphere, they did not shy away from discussing serious world problems. Speakers discussed worldwide poverty, sickness and diseases such as AIDS, human rights, wars and the urgent need for disarmament of weapons of mass destruction.

The prescriptions offered for solving these problems, however, tended to remain in the same United Nations paradigm emphasizing millennium goals which have been largely unsuccessful. Wars, threats of nuclear annihilation, worldwide poverty, and loss of individual human rights continue to be epidemic.

Lip service was made for the need to "strengthen the UN" and a call was put out to "rejuvenate the nuclear disarmament movement". A Stanford University professor, Dr. Hellman, presented the facts on the risks of nuclear catastrophe --and left this observer more determined than ever to demand full nuclear disarmament the world over.

Proposed solutions by invited speakers, however, tended to remain "inside the box" regarding changes to the United Nations and the present global system. Proposed solutions relied upon treaties and international law within the present UN structure rather than a new democratic world body able to apply enforceable world laws on individuals and with a democratically elected world parliament.

There was some minor mention of the need for a "UN Peoples Assembly" to go along with the UN General Assembly, but no strong message to eliminate the Security Council with its undemocratic veto power, and no advocacy to replace or change the UN into a genuine democratic world federation which is what is ultimately needed -- the sooner the better.

The event drew together many people of goodwill, and reinforced the importance of a world body in which to discuss world problems and possible solutions. For me, the main importance of this event was that it reinforced goals which have moral and spiritual significance, and continues to maintain faith in the potential for good from our global community.

-- RK

8/31/10

WILL BIG OIL AND OTHER CORPORATIONS CASH IN WHILE THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER PAYS FIRST FOR A COMBAT MISSION, NOW FOR AN ONGOING OCCUPATION OF IRAQ?

Today the American president announced an end to the "combat mission" in Iraq. He does not discuss any plan to have an ongoing occupation using a mixture of American soldiers (now doing "training", not "combat"), and private contractors (mercenaries) to be stationed in permanent armed bases in Iraq, ready to strike if the puppet government's security forces flounder as the Iraqi people reject this arrangement.

The plan? It is my belief that the American taxpayer will get to pay for "security" while Big Oil (multinationals)& other corporations make lucrative deals for Iraqi oil and/or infrastructure projects, protected by the might of the American military, new police/military security via the State Dept., and highly paid private contractors replacing the "combat" troops along with those Iraqi's willing to join the security forces for a puppet government.

Otherwise, why an almost 1 billion dollar American embassy in Iraq, bigger than the Vatican according to various reports? It's a fortress, and the Americans along with the puppet government will be behind walls while Iraqi death/torture squads roam the land targeting dissidents. Moreover, although President Obama has stated America would not have a permanent presence in Iraq, the facts on the ground include numerous American military bases costing millions of dollars, and construction has apparently not abated.

War and occupation appears good for Big Business. Prediction: Big Oil and other corporations (e.g., Halliburton) will not pay for this protection, or the costs of maintaining a puppet government in which Iraqi officials will have ample opportunity to get rich right along with their corporate benefactors. (It will be the ordinary Iraqi citizen who will lose out.)

Another prediction: A similar fate awaits Afghanistan as Big Oil seeks a pipeline through that country. It will also require an ongoing occupation of the country coupled with a puppet government to fight off the rebellious people who reject such suppression. The American taxpayer will pay for the mixture of American soldiers and private contractors who will stay in Afghanistan (just like in Iraq) to insure a cooperating puppet government.

The Earth Federation would not accept the stealing of resources by use of military might by any nation and the use of propaganda (false information) to keep the people in fear and paranoia.

The 9/11 attack caused immense trauma and was supposedly an attack by Muslims, a pretext for the current wars. Unfortunately, the actual scientific evidence suggests otherwise -- yet the American government refuses a new investigation. If the Earth Federation were in full existence, it could do an independent investigation particularly when a nation is suspected of a cover-up. (The evidence presented by 9/11 Truth researchers points to an inside job, a highly sophisticated false flag operation which has led the American people into a "war that never ends, i.e., the war on terror.)

Speculation: There are likely to be additional "false flag operations" which falsely blame new attacks (possibly again on American soil), on "patsies" -- who "confess" their crimes after unbearable torture. These terror tactics will justify continued excessive budgets for the military/industrial complex and Homeland Security, as Americans give in to manufactured paranoia and fear.

Although American soldiers and the public are told that these wars are to bring "democracy and freedom" to whatever country is being "liberated," and to "protect" America from terrorists, the facts point in a different direction: The American government, largely dominated by corporate and banking interests, want governments who cooperate with predatory capitalism and its first cousin, privatization.

(Editor's note: KBR is one of the obvious beneficiaries of these financial arrangements having been granted large contracts for oil infrastructure work. The original oil contracts drawn up earlier in the conquest under Bremmer which locked up deals for 30 years, are being challenged by some Iraqi's who believe the deals cheat the Iraqi people. Oil deals I have learned recently, are not just for American and British oil giants, but also are being given to some other countries such as China and India. Is the Iraqi Oil Ministry getting appropriate contracts for their people, or are corrupt deals being created which redirects the profits to a handful of Iraqi officials in power in collusion with the oil companies?)

8/28/10

MEXICAN ACTIVISTS MAY JOIN THE EARTH FEDERATION MOVEMENT

Communications between the Earth Federation and activists in Mexico have started since it was learned that student and political activists in Mexico are planning a "First Model World Parliament" to be held in the actual House of Deputies of the Mexican government.

The original connection originated from a meeting with Democratic World Federalists in San Francisco who, in association with the World Alliance to Transform the United Nations, began planning meetings in San Francisco perhaps in October, 2010.

The political importance of this network of strategy discussions is that we see American, Mexican, and possibly activists from Central and South America joining together -- with a strong student involvement.

Earth Federation activists believe that the Earth Constitution is the ideal instrument which will allow the creation of a true, as opposed to a toothless, world parliament.

There are activists who would like to simply have an elected world parliament which offers resolutions in terms of solutions, rather than create a genuine new world body (new world government) to replace the present shadow world government which analysts have noted are unelected, wealthy and powerful in military might and in political corruption.

-- RK 8/28/10

* * * * * * *

Received 6/21/10 from Gary Shepherd

Gary Shepherd's analysis is a good history lesson for proponents of democratic world government. The public and politicians may resist, and even resent, logical solutions to our world's problems -- even when the old ways have been convincingly shown to be wrong, and in current times, disastrous. -- Editor

PTOLEMY, COPERNICUS AND WORLD GOVERNMENT

By Gary Shepherd

May - June 2010 issue of United World magazinegshepher@verizon.net

Long before the advent of the current public arguments aboutevolution and global warming, the greatest controversy in the history ofscience was the debate between the geocentric, or earth-centered model of theuniverse described by the second century Greek astronomer Ptolemy, and theheliocentric, or sun-centered model, advocated by the 16th century Polishastronomer Copernicus.

This battle took most of a century to resolve, and it involved someof the most powerful political and religious leaders of its time. Today, wehave forgotten just what a mental revolution Copernicus' theory represented.Although some Greek philosophers had speculated about a heliocentric model, thePtolemaic model had been almost universally accepted by astronomers for morethan a thousand years. In fact, Copernicus knew that his idea was so radicalthat he didn't even have it published until after he had safely died.

It is easy to see why. The idea that the Earth is at the center ofthe universe, and that the sun, moon, planets and stars revolve around itmatches our everyday experience. After all, the Earth appears immobile beneathour feet -- it doesn't seem to move. When we look up at the sky, the heavenlybodies seem to be moving around us. Even today, we speak of the sun rising orsetting, as if it were the sun circling around the Earth.

What is more, the geocentric model could be used to explain all thescientific observations that could be made at that time. Because it had beennoticed that sometimes the planets seemed to stop and go backwards in theirorbits for a while, Ptolemy created smaller circles, called epicycles, withinthe larger crystalline spheres in which the planets circled around the Earth,so that they were sometimes moving in the opposite direction from the largercircle. Using this model, one could calculate precisely where a planet would beat any particular time -- an important consideration at the time, since mostastronomers were also astrologers, and knowledge of the locations of theplanets at the time of a person's birth was vital to casting horoscopes.

But as time went on, and observations became more precise, theability of the Ptolemaic model to predict planetary locations began to breakdown. The model was altered by later scientists, making it more and morecomplex, in an effort to make it correspond to observations of the realuniverse. In fact, the Ptolemaic model became so complex, that some scientists,in order calculate planetary movements, used the Copernican model formathematical purposes, even though they didn't really believe it described theactual universe.

Eventually, partly because of the invention of the telescope, theCopernican model achieved acceptance over its rival, and today one would havedifficulty finding an astronomer anywhere who supported the geocentricuniverse.

What, one is tempted to ask, has any of this to do with the idea ofworld government? Well, the parallels are quite striking. The current system ofindependent nation-states, sometimes called the Westphalian system, has existedfor many centuries as the unquestioned model for the way the political world isdesigned. Like the Ptolemaic model, it makes sense to us. The nations appear toexist, they appear to be eternal, and there doesn't appear to be any logicalalternative to it. They match our everyday experience. We speak of the earth,and humanity, as if they were both divided up into nation-states.

Like the Ptolemaic model, as time has passed the nation-state modelhas had to grow more and more complex to match the real world. Treaties,conventions, and agreements have piled up, one upon the other, to govern thecomplicated relations between the different nations. For instance, the DanubeRiver runs through numerous different nations on its way to the sea. All of thenational governments have a say in governing the preservation of that river,making it very difficult to come to agreement about anything. The currentsystem has become so complex that sometimes, in order to make it functionproperly, people act as if the world were united, even though they don't reallybelieve it is.

Just as it was the advance of technology and science led to moreprecise measurements that doomed the Ptolemaic model to extinction, advancedtechnology is leading toward measurements that are threatening the viability ofthe nation-state system. We have peered down at the earth's surface from ourorbital satellites and have seen that there are no borders drawn on the realearth. We have peered into the intricacies of the human genome, and we havefound no genes for nationality.

Copernicus offered a model that was truer to the real world, andthus eventually supplanted the older, more inaccurate model. So too must weoffer a model of society that is truer to the real world, which is moreaccurate, more sustainable, and simply works better, so that it can replace theoutdated one. One day, the idea of separate nation-states will come to seem asquaint and antiquated as the perfect crystalline spheres that were a feature ofthe Ptolemaic system.

5/24/10

MODERN MODERATE MUSLIM MAN OPPOSES USE OF THREATS OR VIOLENCE TO CENSOR RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION AND FREE SPEECH

A Portland, Oregon Muslim man in a recent article (in USA Today, May 13, 2010) opposesuse of threats and violence by some Muslims who have murdered, or threatened to murder, those who have used the image of Mohammed in ways for which they did not approve.

Mr. Harris Zafar is highly critical of Muslim violence used to censor free speech and states that "...Islam does not support people who violently censor free speech. The Quran guarantees freedom of speech..." Mr. Zafar goes on to cite examples from the Quran and from the life of Mohammed himself which support nonviolence.

Importantly, Mr. Zafar also condemns State sponsored blasphemy laws such as used in Saudi Arabia (apostasy potentially punishable by death), Pakistan, and Afghanistan which also may invoke prison or a death sentence.

These majority Muslim states, according to the article, suppress other religious faiths and beliefs using blasphemy laws to silence or imprison religious minorities, journalists, academicians, and dissenters.

[Use of threats or violence to prevent free speech or practice of religion violates the Earth Constitution's Bill of Human Rights.]

Attempts to censor or silence critics is not limited to extremist Muslims. Jewish Zionists in the USA go to great lengths to silence criticism of Israel but use different tactics such as applying pressure to put a newspaper out of business.

Much like Saudi Arabia gives Muslims special rights, Israel does the same for its Jewish population. In both cases, citizens of other religions are second class citizens in terms of legal rights. [Unequal treatment of citizens violates the Human Rights section of the Earth Constitution.]

There is a somewhat different but parallel issue in the United States wherein Jewish Zionists try to silence criticism of Israel's criminal actions against the Palestinians. These Jewish extremists, unlike Muslim zealots, may allow public criticism of their God (Yahweh or Jehova), but they do not allow a full public discussion of Israel's expansionistic aggression against Palestinians and have "unelected" American politicians who dared defy the Israeli Lobby.